Sonic Adventure 2: Dark Tomorrow
by nintendofreakgcn
Summary: When Sonic dies, Knuckles and Tails are forced to fight a guerilla war against the new Eggman Empire. SA2 AU. Read and review.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: any characters, locations, etc. featured within this story who have featured in a Sonic the Hedgehog videogame are owned by Sega/Sonic Team, not me. Any characters featured, locations, etc. featured within that are unique to this story are owned by me.

A/N: Hey guys, here's my new Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic. It's based off a rather simple idea I had when I was first playing through Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: what if Sonic had actually been killed when that capsule exploded (you have to admit, it's a pretty convincing "death" scene if you play through the Dark story first, as I did). Anyway, the results would obviously be quite catastrophic for the world, and that formed the basis of this fanfic.

I'm not going to lie to you: I'm quite infrequent in my updates. If this is a problem for you, then it's unfortunate, but my rather hectic school life means that I can't update much more regularly than I do. If it's not too big a problem, then that's great!

As an extra note, if you came across this fanfic as a result of reading my Fire Emblem fanfic "One Heart," don't worry, I will be updating that one at least as regularly as this one. I just needed to get this story out of my system, and I also thought that it might be helpful to have two very different fanfics on the go at once. That way, if I get writer's block with one story, I can write some stuff for the other, thus keeping me in continual practice.

With all that said, read, enjoy, and if at all possible, review.

**Sonic Adventure 2: Dark Tomorrow**

**Prologue**

The young, two-tailed fox known as Tails shifted uneasily in the seat of his mech walker, the Cyclone. Where was Sonic? It shouldn't have taken this long for him to get here. For someone as fast as him, it should have taken at most a few minutes. What was keeping him?

Tails turned his attention away from the door to gaze at the source of this dilemma. Dr Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, the one who had been plaguing Sonic and Tails for far too long, was mere metres away from him in his own mech, the Egg Walker. He had tried many times to take over the world, but they had stopped him each time. However, it now looked like Eggman had played his trump card. In his right hand he held a shiny black gun. It was pointed directly at the head of Amy Rose, a friend of both Sonic and Tails. Tails knew that Eggman would shoot if given the slightest incentive to. There was no chance of Tails being able to defeat Eggman with one shot, so he was now in check.

How had things come to this? Tails had thought the plan was foolproof. They had had the element of surprise, and there should have been no way for Eggman to get to the space Colony ARK before they did. Clearly, Eggman had a faster means of getting here than the shuttle they used.

Hearing a faint hiss behind him, Tails head darted back, seemingly independent of his mind. The door slowly opened to reveal the form of Sonic. His blue body was tense, every muscle clenched, as if he was about to pounce on Eggman. But he didn't. He just stood there, his green eyes staring straight at Eggman and Amy. Eggman glared back at him; Amy remained as close to still as possible, but couldn't help shivering. For one moment, Tails thought he saw something more as Sonic and Amy's eyes met. But it was all gone in an instant.

Eggman broke the silence. "Let's get down to business, shall we Sonic?" he said, trying to act as if he wasn't pleased. "Hand over the Chaos Emerald, and then we'll talk about your _girlfriend. _That is, if you really care for her." Eggman pushed the gun into contact with Amy's left temple: a shot fired now would surely tear away Amy's entire head.

Sonic held up the yellow jewel that he held in his right hand. Tails knew that it wasn't a Chaos Emerald. It was a fake, designed to reverse the energy of the Chaos Emeralds and blow up. The real Chaos Emerald remained hidden in a secret compartment on the Cyclone. There could be only one reason why Eggman desired it, and that was so as to get the Eclipse Cannon up to full power.

Tails knew little of the Eclipse Cannon, but he certainly knew the level of destruction it could achieve. Even now he could see the remains of the moon, which had been the first victim of the Eclipse Cannon, through the window. He also knew that it must be powered by Chaos Emeralds, since that was the only way of producing the massive amounts of energy that would bee needed to operate such a device. The final piece of information he knew, and the one that had been so important, was that it was nearly impervious to outside attacks. Fortunately, Tails had brought the fake Chaos Emerald with him. All Sonic needed to do was place the fake emerald with the real Chaos Emeralds and the Eclipse Cannon would have been destroyed, or at least rendered useless.

But Eggman had kidnapped Amy, and now Sonic was here, along with the fake Chaos Emerald. Eggman still had no idea that the emerald was a fake. If they could just keep the act up for a little longer, than he would destroy his own weapon.

Sonic appeared to be thinking the same thing as he looked at the emerald. Upon seeing that Sonic was looking at him, Tails gave a small nod, indistinguishable unless it was being looked for.

Eggman had clearly run out of patience. "Put the Chaos Emerald down right there and _back off_," he growled, pointing at a circle on the floor. Tails couldn't help but think that the circle seemed to be separated slightly from the rest of the floor.

A grin spread across Sonic's face as he walked over to the circle. "You've turned into a big-time villain, Doctor," he said. How true that was, Tails thought to himself. Sonic was just walking into the circle when Eggman laughed to himself. Sonic hesitated for an instant.

That was all it took. In an instant, a clear cylinder had come down from the ceiling, trapping Sonic in it. Sonic eyes darted towards the ceiling, looking for a way out of the capsule, but there was none. He was trapped.

"You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald, didn't you?" Eggman asked.

"So how did you know it wasn't the real one?" Tails replied without thinking.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled, though his voice was barely audible through the walls of the capsule.

"Because you just told me, fox boy!" Eggman said. Tails jaw dropped as he realised his mistake. "Now," Eggman said, "for a little space ride! The capsule clears the colony, bam!" Tails fur stood on end. Sonic couldn't die. There had to be a way out of this. His eyes darted around, looking for any possible way, but there was none. Eggman still had the gun pointed at Amy's head, and now he had another hostage as well.

Sonic stood firm, appearing courageous even in this moment of dire peril. He closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, as if accepting his fate. "I'm counting you Tails," he said as he opened his eyes, looking Tails directly in the eye. "And Amy, take care of yourself." Tails noticed that Sonic was looking at Amy in that manner he had seen before, but there was no reply from Amy. She looked ready to burst into tears.

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman said, cutting the moment short. He pressed a button inside the Egg Walker. In an instant, Sonic was gone, the capsule sent hurtling into space. Tails looked out the massive window in an attempt to see the capsule, and he could just make it out against the blackness of space. It was burning up. This couldn't be happening. But then his worst fears were realised as the capsule exploded in a massive fireball, utterly destroying it.

"SOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!"

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Tails' eyes shot open, snapping him out of the nightmare. His breath came in gasps and sweat had dampened his fur. He sat up in the hard wooden chair. He had fallen asleep at his post again.

Rubbing his eyes, Tails reached for the cup of coffee that he always had beside him on long nights. As he took a sip, he instantly spat it back out. It had gone cold, and tasted worse than Knuckles' home cooking. He knew it wasn't worth making another cup, as he would probably just fall asleep again anyway.

As he looked out the window of the small cabin, Tails thoughts dwelled on his nightmare. It was the same nightmare that had haunted his sleep for the past year. His worst memory invading his sleep. It had been over a year since Sonic had died - the anniversary had been several weeks ago - but the event still wouldn't leave Tails' mind.

A lot had happened in that year. With Sonic gone, it had not taken Eggman long to seize the last Chaos Emerald from Tails' grasp. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, the Eclipse Cannon had more than enough power to be able to fire a blast that destroyed the continent of North America. The rest of the world had surrendered soon after that. There was no major resistance to Eggman's rise to power. There were rumours of an underground rebellion, consisting of the remainder of the military organisation GUN, but they had yet to make any real impact.

For the first few months of Eggman's reign, Tails, Knuckles and Amy had all been prisoners aboard the space colony ARK. They barely even knew that Eggman had taken over the world. One night, when the generator aboard the ARK had broken down, Tails and Knuckles had been able to escape, but had been forced to leave Amy behind.

Ever since then, they had been living on Angel Island. Although the long period the island had spent grounded without the power of the Master Emerald to support it caused some problems, Knuckles had soon been able to get it to rise again. For the past few months, they had aimed to be a solitary thorn in Eggman's side. They had delayed convoys, saved hostages and even destroyed their fair share of Eggman's robots, but it was all just a drop in the ocean. No matter how hard they tried, their attempts barely scratched the forces of the Eggman Empire. But that didn't mean that he wasn't after them. No, it was quite the opposite. They were constantly on the run, dodging Eggman's forces. But it was only a matter of time before he got them.

Tails' thoughts were distracted by a beeping noise. Turning away from the window, Tails walked over to his bed and picked up a small headset. As he put it on, he pressed a small button on its side, and a clear voice came through.

"Red Rad to Fox Boy," said the voice, "Come in, Fox Boy."

"I copy Red Rad, this is Fox Boy," Tails replied. "Report current status of mission."

"I'm in."

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	2. Reunion

A/N: Yeah, I know this is sooner then I said I'd update, but I had this chapter sitting on my computer, so I thought I might as well update. By the way, if the length of the chapter is of concern to you, then I should tell you that most of my chapters will probably be of close to this length. I make my chapters as long as I feel they need to be: no longer, no shorter. It just so happens that I feel my chapters need to be this long.

Thanks for your review, Master hunter. I'm glad you liked the prologue. In regards to the title, I feel that, in this alternate universe I've set up, Sonic Adventure 2 hasn't truly ended yet, and won't end until Tails and Knuckles defeat Eggman (assuming they do, of course). Thus, I'm afraid I will have to go against your request and keep the Sonic Adventure 2 part in the title. Hopefully, this won't cause you to stop reading my fanfic or anything.

With that said, read, enjoy and (hopefully) review!

**Chapter 1: Reunion**

A lone figure stood at the end of the alley. He wore a black cloak that reached down to his feet, with a hood that completely concealed his face in shadow. He stood about three feet tall. In one large, gloved hand, he held a small communicator.

"I copy, Red Rad," came a voice from the communicator. "Just give me a second to get a hold on your position."

The hooded figure leaned back against the wall. He hoped this wouldn't take long. This city gave him the creeps. He was watching the street beyond, ever-watchful for anyone who might be listening.

"I've got your position, Red Rad," said the voice. "Proceed towards the target. I'll keep an eye on you from here."

The hooded figure cleared his throat, and in a deep voice, whispered, "I copy, Fox Boy. Over and-"

The voice interrupted him. "Oh, Knuckles, be careful." The figure cringed at the mention of his real name. When would Tails ever learn the importance of security?

"I hear ya. Over and out." Knuckles pressed a button on the communicator, ensuring that no sound on his end could be heard on the other. Tails would still be able to keep track of him through the communicator's radar function, and it would probably be best if he didn't hear what was going on. He had a feeling that things were going to get ugly.

Knuckles walked out of the alley briskly, making sure that no one had seen him. There wasn't much of a chance in this part of the city at this time of night, but you could never be too careful. He headed toward the centre of the city. He'd heard that this city had once been called Tokyo, but now, like all the others, it had no name.

A strong gust of wind blew by. Knuckles shivered and pulled his cloak closer to himself. He had been in sub-zero conditions before, but this sort of cold was different. It seemed that, for every degree the temperature dropped, one's hope dropped with it. As if on cue, he passed by a homeless, withered old man. The man held up a plate in hope, but Knuckles gave him nothing. He couldn't risk drawing attention to himself. To show compassion was to draw attention to yourself. In a past time, he might have stopped to help no matter what the risk, but not now. The reason was staring him straight in the face.

Knuckles sank back into the shadows. His attention had been caught by a nearby poster. The words "Wanted: Reward Offered" stared him straight in the face, and beneath the words was a picture of himself and Tails. Without hesitation, he tore it down in one swift motion and dropped it in a nearby bin. He hoped no one had noticed. He sometimes wondered if anyone paid any attention to those posters. He wondered if there were people out there, looking for him, hoping to catch him and take him in to the police. He hoped not, but deep down, he knew that few knew his true cause, and in this day and age, the promise of money was enough to get people to do practically anything. People needed the money.

Knuckles quickened his pace as he passed out of the slums and into the more "civilised" areas of town. Of course, "civilised" was only what Eggman considered to be so. That meant that there were no homes, massive skyscrapers dominated the landscape and squads of E-1000s roamed the area to keep everyone in order. He hoped not to run into them, but part of him knew that it was inevitable. If he could just stay out of sight for a little while longer, then he could fight them slightly more on his own terms.

Agonising minutes passed as he walked further into the heart of the city. He once heard a faint siren in the distance, but other than that there had been no sign of any E-1000s. Knuckles couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

Then he saw a massive skyscraper rise up out of the rest of the skyline. The mountain of shiny metal was hundreds, if not thousands, of stories high, and at its peak stood a model of a face that he knew and loathed. It was the face of Eggman. Knuckles had arrived at the fiend's base of operations in this city. Knuckles turned his gaze towards ground level, where a 50-foot tall statue of Eggman stood. One arm was by his side, and the other was held out, his palm vertical as if trying to stop something.

A siren wailed from around the corner. Knuckles jumped into a nearby alley and threw his cloak over himself. As the hover-car carrying the E-1000s roared by, Knuckles felt his heart skip a beat. He could defeat one of those robots with ease, but fifty was an entirely different matter.

The siren gradually faded away. Knuckles took a moment to catch his breath. That had been too close. For one moment, he considered making a break for it, but he knew that there was no turning back now. Standing up, he turned towards a wall. He dug one fist into it, and then dug another one in slightly higher. He then began to climb, continually digging his fists in higher and higher and taking the rest of his body with him. It was several minutes before he reached the rooftop of the skyscraper. He looked across to where Eggman's headquarters stood. Although it stood considerably taller than the building on which he was standing, Knuckles was confident that he could get to somewhere near the top. A quick glance around indicated that the patrols must have been around the other side of the building. It was now or never.

Knuckles started running. He gripped his cloak as he neared the edge. Tensing his muscles for a split second, he leapt. He let the wind carry him as he neared the skyscraper. For one brief moment, he was far away, back at Angel Island, years ago. Before he knew Sonic, before he knew Tails, before he knew Eggman. He was in heaven.

Knuckles' daydreaming was interrupted as he hit the wall. He dug his fists in, hanging on for dear life. He knew he shouldn't look down, but he did anyway. He could barely make out the ground below: it was all just a swirling mass. Knuckles shut his eyes and looked up. He was just a short distance away from the window to the top storey. The window was the eye on the model of Eggman's face. He was going to enjoy this.

Hearing a siren, Knuckles knew he had to do this now. He looked to his left and saw a helicopter rounding one corner of the building, and a quick glance to his right indicated that another helicopter was coming around the other corner. Knuckles pushed himself off the wall, gliding toward the window as he rose. The guns fired. He winced as the window shattered. A second later, he hit the floor. As he looked out the window, he saw the flaming wreckage of both helicopters falling toward the ground. He was glad Eggman always thought big.

"So, you came," said a voice. It seemed to come from all around him. It was a voice Knuckles hadn't heard in a long time, yet one he knew all too well.

"Eggman," Knuckles replied. "You know why I'm here."

"Indeed I do. Hand over the Master Emerald!"

Knuckles withdrew a small gem from under his glove. It instantly increased in size to fill the palm of his hand. "Here it is. But first you need to fulfil your part of the bargain. Release Amy Rose."

There was an ominous pause. "Hand it over first."

"I won't hand it over until you hand over Amy." Knuckles shrunk the Master Emerald and slipped it back under his glove, so as to prove his point.

"It seems to me like you don't have a choice. I have the entire security force heading to this floor as we speak, and helicopters are ready to cut off any escape out the window."

Knuckles raised his fists. "Bring 'em on! I'll tear those rust-buckets apart!" His mixed expression of anger and confidence was one that hadn't been on his face since the founding of the Eggman Empire.

Knuckles heard Eggman laugh to himself. "Who are you trying to convince?" Knuckles' composure wavered. "Very well, Knuckles. I could have been lenient. I could have held up my part of the bargain. But now the deal is off. Instead of just taking the Master Emerald, I will take your life as well!"

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Tails leapt up in his seat. He couldn't believe what he was seeing on his scanner. One hundred E-1000s were bearing in on Knuckles' position. In just one minute, the top floor would be invaded by the first wave. There was no way Knuckles could stand against such numbers. He hurriedly grabbed his communicator.

"Knuckles, come in!" he yelled, not caring for the stealthy approach any more.

"Hey Tails," Knuckles replied, remaining strangely calm. "Got any bright ideas?"

"I don't know, I'm working on it!" Thirty seconds. Tails zoomed out on his scanner. His eyes darted across the resulting map of the building. Fifteen seconds. Suddenly, he saw something. "Knuckles! Run through the door in front of you, and take a left." Ten seconds.

"Why?"

"Just trust me!" Tails saw Knuckles' blip move away from his current position. Five seconds. He was nearly past the elevator. Zero seconds. Static erupted across the screen.

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Knuckles dove as the elevator doors opened. The communicator flew from his hand as machine-gun fire filled the room. The device was instantly destroyed. Knuckles got up and sprinted through the door. He moved to the side of the doorway. As an E-1000 moved through, Knuckles threw his cloak at it. That moment of blindness was all he needed. He punched the robot, sending it flying backwards. The wrecked robot bowled over the rest of the group. Machine-gun fire burst out everywhere. After the dust had settled, Knuckles was the only one left standing.

But he knew it wasn't over yet. More groups were coming, and now he had lost contact with Tails. Then he remembered that Tails had given him instructions. He had already taken the left turn, but there seemed to be nothing other than the elevator here. Looking behind him, he saw that the room extended into a corridor lined with doors, but there was nothing at the end of it. He couldn't possibly search all of the rooms before the next group came. He needed a plan. Looking at the elevator door, he grinned. He'd found his plan. He reached for the door and carefully pushed the tips of his fingers into the gap between the two halves. Then, with all his might, he moved his hands apart, opening the door. He leapt and grabbed a hold of a cable. He looked down the seemingly bottomless shaft. "Note to self," he whispered, "stop doing that."

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar beneath him. Knuckles felt himself hurtling downwards as he kept a tight grip on the cable. Looking down, he saw the elevator racing upwards. It was now or never. Keeping a hold on the cable with his left hand, Knuckles let his right hand drop to his side. He took a deep breath. Then he roared as his right hand slashed through the cable. For an instant, everything seemed frozen in place. Then the elevator plummeted, as Knuckles held onto the cable that was taking him to the top of the shaft. Just before he reached the top, he leapt through the open elevator doors. He winced as he heard a loud crashing sound from the elevator shaft.

"That ought to hold them for a while," Knuckles said to himself. "Now to find out what Tails was telling me about." Knuckles walked down the corridor he had seen earlier. Like the rest of the interior of the building, it was drab. The walls were grey, and the doors barely stood out at all. But there wasn't any time to think about things like that. Tails had seen something somewhere around here. Although Knuckles didn't know for sure, he guessed that it one of two things: the place where they were holding Amy or a route of escape. Either one of those would be welcome right now.

Knuckles went to work, as he checked every room as he slowly moved up the long corridor. But none of the rooms seemed to contain either Amy or a route of escape. Knuckles knew that he was running out of time. There was bound to be another way of getting to the top floor, and although it would probably be slower than the elevator, it would still take far less time than Knuckles would like it to. He finally came to the last door in the corridor. As he tried to open it, Knuckles realised it was locked. That was promising. He pulled his right arm back, and then sent his fist hurtling towards the door. The blow sent the door flying off its hinges, allowing Knuckles to step into the room.

He gasped. This room was completely different from the others. The others rooms had just been offices full of filing cabinets and television monitors. This room however, was more like an arena, as shown by the large grandstands that spread along the walls. The room was truly massive, with a floor space larger than most houses. The ceiling was very high as well, and the combination made Knuckles feel very small.

Looking closer at the ceiling, Knuckles realised why Tails had told him to come here. There was a large skylight on the ceiling. Although it was hardly an ideal escape route, it would certainly do the job. But before Knuckles could do anything, he was blinded by a red light.

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Tails took several deep breaths. He knew he had to stay calm. Just because he had lost contact did not mean that Knuckles was dead. He had to hold on to what little hope was left. But at the same time, Tails knew that Knuckles wouldn't last long against Eggman's forces, especially since Tails hadn't been able to give the last of his instructions to Knuckles. Tails knew that he had to do something.

"What would Sonic do?" Tails whispered to himself, even though he knew the answer. Sonic wouldn't stay where it was safe when one of his friends was in danger. He had shown that over a year ago on ARK. A nagging voice of doubt in Tails mind reminded him that Sonic was now dead because of that. Tails pushed those thoughts out of his mind. If Tails hadn't let Eggman know that Sonic held the fake Chaos Emerald, then he would still be alive.

And yet, in spite of that, Sonic hadn't blamed Tails for what had happened. All he had said were five simple words: _"I'm counting on you, Tails." _The words flashed through Tails' mind once more. That had been the first time that Sonic had ever asked Tails to do anything for him. Sonic had always been the one helping Tails; had the time now come to return the favour?

Tails got up out of his chair and left the cabin. It was raining outside, but he didn't care. The scenery on Angel Island had always helped Tails to calm his mind. But now, it all seemed strangely distant. Tails instead found himself looking down a runway towards his own creation: the Tornado 3. It had been made to replace the Tornado 2, which had been destroyed when Tails was fighting Eggman aboard ARK. The newer plane was basically the same design, although with some minor changes to make it faster and more powerful. He had also, for reasons that he didn't truly know, added an extra seat. He had kept the Tornado 2's blue colour scheme, to remind him of better times.

The fact that the Tornado 3 could be seen so clearly, even through the rain, unnerved Tails. It seemed as if even the weather was taunting him. He knew that the Tornado 3 could get him to Knuckles' location in a very short time. And yet, what good would it do? His defeat on ARK had made Tails realise that he wasn't cut out for combat. Surely, he would face a similar defeat if he tried to help Knuckles. Sonic's last moments flashed across Tails' mind once more.

"_I'm counting on you, Tails." _

And even with the many doubts that plagued Tails' mind, he knew that, as long as Amy was a prisoner, she couldn't take care of herself.

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Knuckles raised one of his hands in an attempt to block the red light, but the light had already moved. The light, which Knuckles now realised was actually a laser, had moved down to his chest, and was now pointed directly at his heart. Knuckles' eyes followed the laser back to its source: a robot that was standing in the shadows. Its shape reminded Knuckles of an E-1000, and yet it was different somehow.

The robot slowly stepped out of the shadows, its mechanical footsteps echoing throughout the room. As the robot came into full view, Knuckles gasped. This robot couldn't be an E-1000. Those robots had arms that ended in simple machine guns. This robot's arms were different. The arm from which the laser was coming did have a machine gun on the end, but it also had a large missile launcher attached to it.

But it was the other arm that shocked Knuckles more. It ended in a large claw-like hand, and in that hand's grip was none other than the one whom Knuckles had come here for: Amy Rose. She still wore the same red dress, white gloves and red shoes that she had worn on that fateful day over a year ago, and by the looks of things, they hadn't been washed since then. She was covered in grime, and even her bright-pink quills had been dulled by the passage of time. But where Knuckles saw the greatest change was in her eyes. They were no longer wide and bright like they had been; instead a strange emptiness filled them. For the first time since his encounters with the spirit of the echidna girl Tikal, Knuckles felt pity for someone.

Knuckles assumed a combat stance. Now was definitely not the time for emotions. Knuckles knew that he was going to have to fight his way out of this situation, and now that he had a chance to free Amy as well, he wasn't going to go home empty-handed. He would need a clear mind to pull this one off. Knuckles remained still, determined to let the robot to make the first move. One of his eyes was fixated on Amy, the other on the weapons at the end of the robot's right arm. He would be ready for anything.

But, to Knuckles surprise, the robot didn't fire. Instead, it spoke. "My master wishes to speak with you," it said in a deep, monotone voice.

Knuckles glared at the robot, but the green lights that it had for eyes showed no sign of noticing this. "I've already said what I have to say to Eggman," Knuckles replied. "The conditions are exactly the same as they were then."

For a moment, it sounded like the robot was laughing. But then Knuckles recognised the voice as Eggman's. Unlike before, he now seemed content to only have one speaker, as opposed to the large number he had had before. "That's where you're wrong, Knuckles," the voice said. "The conditions _have _changed. The new conditions are as follows: hand over the Master Emerald, or the girl dies." As the words were finished, the robot pointed its gun directly at Amy's head. The red laser-sight could just be made out against her pink quills. Knuckles flinched ever so slightly. "Oh and by the way, I wouldn't try to fight this robot if I were you. This isn't just any robot. Rather, it's the latest in my E-100 series, E-106 Eta. And, unlike my previous E-100 robots, this one has had a certain… weakness removed. It's now quite unstoppable. You see Knuckles, one thing I've learned over the years is that if you wish to succeed in this world, you have to learn to take control of situations, and this is what I'm doing here. After all, this idea worked once before, why wouldn't it work again?"

Knuckles was dimly aware of every muscle in his body clenching, but most of his focus was on Eggman's voice, as it continued to taunt him. "Of course, it was only a matter of time before a plan like this worked on that blasted hedgehog. He'd always displayed that weakness, that desire to always be the hero. He would always fall so easily into a trap when I used something he cared about as bait." Knuckles gritted his teeth. "He was so easily tricked. I suppose that's why you became friends, eh, Knuckles?"

For a moment, Knuckles felt like his feet had left the ground, but the feeling was gone in an instant, leaving him with his feet firmly on the ground, glowering at Eta, his body tense, and looking as if he was about to explode with rage. But something in his mind was holding him back. Memories of a time now long gone flashed before his eyes: memories of when Sonic was alive, and before the Eggman Empire had been established. Even then, when things were going fine, Knuckles had been quick to lose his temper. It had often brought him into conflict with Sonic, and yet it wasn't any of their physical battles that was most prominent in his memory now. No, it was of a time not quite so long gone as those battles…

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_Knuckles felt his insides lurch as the shuttle rebounded off the meteor. He clearly wasn't the only one who felt this way. Amy, who was sitting in the seat next to him, looked ready to throw up. Sonic showed no sign of even having noticed the crash; he simply wore the same cocky expression he always had. In the pilot's seat, Tails struggled to bring the spinning spaceship under control. As he fiddled with controls, the sirens that had been going off all around them gradually died down. _

_Knuckles, Tails and Amy all breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. "Is everyone okay?" Tails asked. "We should be landing soon." _

_Knuckles nodded and leant his head back. Not realising in time that the headrest had fallen off in the crash, his neck bent right around, leaving Knuckles staring towards the back of the cockpit, through the clear door into the cargo bay. And then his jaw dropped. "Oh no, the hatch door blew open!" he shouted. Even now, the shards of the Master Emerald that he had spent so long collecting were flying out into space. _

"_Don't sweat it, Knuckles," Sonic said, closing his eyes as if ready to take a nap. "The only things in the cargo bay are those Master Emerald shards." _

"_What do you mean don't sweat it!" Knuckles shouted so loudly that he thought his vocal chords would burst. But he wouldn't have cared if they had done. How could Sonic just forget how much the Master Emerald meant to Knuckles? Had he already forgotten that it alone held the power of the Chaos Emeralds in check? But Sonic simply stared blankly at him. Knuckles had had enough. _

_Without thinking, Knuckles tore off his seat belt and stomped towards the pilot's seat. Glowering, he grabbed Tails by the fur on his chest and held his quivering form up to his eyes. "Let me off here," he growled. As Tails shook his head, he opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out. Knuckles let go of Tails, and faced the control panel. His hands started pressing buttons at random, in an attempt to open the door to the shuttle. Nothing seemed to be working. _

_Knuckles could just make out the voice of Sonic behind him say, "What do you think you're doing? We're going to crash this thing if you keep that up!" But Knuckles ignored him. He needed to get off now. But none of the buttons seemed to be opening the door. Then Knuckles noticed a lever on the controls panel. Perhaps that would do the job. As Knuckles' right hand grasped the lever and prepared to pull it down, he heard Sonic cry out, "Don't touch that lever!" But it was too late. _

_With a loud boom, the rocket accelerated, throwing Knuckles back. Sonic, Tails and Amy were all screaming now. But rather than grab the seat and hold on for dear life, Knuckles let himself be hurtled towards the cargo bay door, moving his fist back as he did so. Then, he threw that fist forward, right towards the door. The powerful punch blew the door off, and Knuckles carried through the resulting hole. _

_Not looking back, Knuckles flew towards the asteroid field where the Master Emerald shards appeared to have been going, leaving the others to their fate. _

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Knuckles frowned as he brought himself back to reality. He knew that he was at least partly responsible for Sonic's death. If he had only been willing to delay retrieving the Master Emerald, he might have been able to help Sonic, and the whole disaster that resulted may have been averted. Now, fate had played a cruel game with him, and he was left being forced once again to choose between the Master Emerald and someone's life. Part of him knew that the life of another would always be worth more than any inanimate object, especially considering that this other was in danger because of him. And yet, Knuckle knew that he couldn't just let Eggman take the Master Emerald. He had protected it his whole life: it was his duty to do so. He couldn't just forget that duty now. On the other hand, why had he come here if he wasn't willing to give up the Master Emerald to save Amy? And why now, when it came time to make a choice, did he find himself unable to go either way?

"Oh, Knuckles," said the voice of Eggman. "Have you forgotten our little negotiations?" Eta's gun was now pressed against Amy's head, as if to drive home the nature of the situation. Knuckles had to think of something fast. He needed to get himself, Amy and the Master Emerald out of here in one piece. The first obstacle would be to deal with that robot. He stared at it, taking in every detail, looking for a possible weak spot, but he could see none.

"Knuckles," Eggman's voice said. "I'm going to give you to the count of ten to hand over the Master Emerald. If you don't hand it over by then, then the girl will die." Knuckles flinched. He knew that he needed more time. "One, two, three…" Knuckles' eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that might help, but he saw nothing. "…four, five, six…" His eyes glanced back and forth between Amy and Eta. The image of his last encounter with Sonic flashed through his mind again. And then, a plan came into his mind. "…seven, eight, nine…"

"Stop!" Knuckles yelled as loudly as he yelled on that day over a year ago. In a quieter voice, he added, "You win, Eggman. The Master Emerald is yours." He reached under his glove and pulled out the Master Emerald, which instantly grew to fill the palm of his hand. "Here, catch." As he said those words, he threw the Master Emerald in a high arc towards Eta. Its eyes followed the Master Emerald as it flew through the air.

Knuckles waited until Eta didn't appear to be looking at him, and then he charged. He was guessing that Eta was going to drop Amy to grab the Master Emerald, and Knuckles knew that if he could time this right, he would be able to get them both. But as Knuckles and the Master Emerald got closer to Eta, the robot instead raised its gun arm into the air. Knuckles stopped for a moment. Surely Eggman wouldn't try to destroy the Master Emerald? But then, as the Master Emerald began to fall, the gun on the end of Eta's arm seemed to split apart, and Knuckles could hear the gears grinding as parts in the robot's arm moved past each other. As the noises ceased, Knuckles realised that the gun had just transformed into a hand. Knuckles cursed under his breath. So much for the plan.

Shouting a battle cry, Knuckles charged. Seeing the new threat, Eta started transforming its right hand back into a gun, but it was too late. Knuckles threw a punch at the robot's right arm, causing it to snap back and bury itself in the wall. Without looking, Knuckles raised his right hand, and the Master Emerald landed in his palm. In a mere moment, the Master Emerald was once again shrunk and in its hiding place under Knuckles' glove. Eta was still trying to get its right arm out of the wall, but meeting with little success.

Seizing the moment, Knuckles leapt at the hand holding Amy. As he reached it, he grabbed the large hand in both of his hands, and pulled them apart. There was a loud snap as the robot's fingers were pulled off. Sparks were flying from the resulting stump, but Knuckles didn't care. He just dropped to the ground, catching Amy as he did so. An instant later, Knuckles heard a loud crash behind him. He didn't need to look to know what that meant.

Holding Amy under one arm, he ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. Moments later, he heard the loud rattling of machine-gun fire. Knuckles thought he heard Amy let out a yelp, but he ignored it. His eyes were now focused on his immediate destination: the corner of the arena. He winced as he heard some shots zoom past his head, missing him by mere inches. He sincerely hoped that none had hit Amy. He could still feel her breathing, so she was still alive at least.

As he reached the corner of the arena, he leapt at the right-hand barrier. As his foot made contact, he pushed off, back-flipping high into the air. As he and Amy fell towards the other barrier, he caught a glimpse of the spot where he had been moments earlier being riddled with bullets. As he fell behind the first row of seats, he heard the machine-gun fire cease. Knuckles dropped Amy quickly but gently. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Knuckles wondered whether Sonic had ever done something like this. "Stay there!" Knuckles whispered sternly before leaping back onto the barrier.

At the other end of the arena, Eta opened fire once more. Knuckles leapt to his right, dodging the bullets with ease. He swayed slightly as he caught his balance further down the barrier. As the gunfire moved towards him again, Knuckles dived at the floor. He broke into a roll as he hit the ground, finishing in a kneeling position. He leapt to his feet in an instant, but much to his surprise, the gunfire had stopped.

Eta was just standing there, its laser sight fixed on Knuckles' chest. Knuckles knew that he should let Eta make the first move, but part of him was against that idea. He had to get out of here quickly, in case Eggman sent some E-1000s to back Eta up. Stalling was the last thing Knuckles wanted to do now. Knuckles placed his right foot forward, leaning into an offensive stance, his fists raised, ready to make whatever attack his instincts led him to make.

A loud boom resounded through the room, Knuckles leapt high into the air. The missile that Eta had shot missed him by a mile. Knuckles grinned, but even as he did so, the missile turned sharply to face him. It then rocketed towards him. Knuckles was in no position to glide away. As the missile came closer, Knuckles did the only thing he could think of: he held out his arms, keeping them between his chest and the missile. A split second later, the missile made contact, but Knuckles' hands caught the missile. Knuckles tensed his muscles instantly, holding his arms rigid as the missile flew towards the wall with him. Knuckles' back smashed into the wall, but still his arms held firm, stopping the missile in its track. But it was still pushing, and Knuckles knew that he couldn't hold out much longer. He slowly slid his left and down towards the missile's booster.

Then, with one final, Herculean effort, Knuckles spun the missile to face away from the wall. In an instant, it took off again. Knuckles screamed as the fire coming out of the missile scorched his chest. Calling on his last reserves of strength, he clambered onto the main body of the missile itself. By now, the missile was headed directly for Eta. The robot took aim an opened fire. Knuckles winced slightly, but to his surprise, the bullets were not aimed at him. Rather, they were hitting the missile. Without thinking, Knuckles let go of the missile, and it raced ahead of him. Moments later, it exploded in a giant fireball. The force of the explosion sent Knuckles hurtling towards the ground. He landed hard on his back, and resisted the urge to cry out in pain as shrapnel pierced his body.

Knuckles rose to his feet, shaking slightly as he did so. Smoke now filled the centre of the arena. As his mind started to get foggy, Knuckles knew that this would be the last chance he would get. He wouldn't make it out of here alive, but he was determined to go out in a blaze of glory by destroying Eta. Forgetting the pain flowing through his body, Knuckles charged into the smoke. As he got closer, he heard the sound of machine-gun fire. He tried to leap to one side, but his dulled reflexes resulted in it only being more like a side-step. That wouldn't be enough. A sharp pain filled his left leg, and Knuckles knew that he had been hit. His leg buckled, and Knuckles collapsed. This time, he didn't get up.

Knuckles slowly opened his eyes. His vision was filled with a blinding red light. Knuckles didn't need to be told why that was. "It's over Knuckles," he heard Eggman's voice say. That had confirmed his suspicions.

"Go to hell, Eggman," Knuckles growled, his voice now a hoarse whisper.

"Well then, I'll see you there, Knuckles. But not for a long, long time. And unlike you, I'll die knowing that I won. I've defeated you all. Sonic, Tails, and now you."

Even as his vision started to fade, Knuckles grinned. "You haven't defeated Tails. He'll be back… and he'll crush you." His eyes closed.

Eggman was silent for a moment, before he said, "Farewell, Knuckles."

But before any more could be said or done, there was a loud shattering noise from above, followed by an even louder thud. Knuckles barely noticed as some shards of glass pierced his quills, for his body was even now going numb.

Knuckles forced himself to open his eyes, to clear his vision. He could just make out two dark silhouettes amidst the lesser darkness that was clouding his vision. One he recognised as Eta. But the other shape surprised him more. Even with his fading vision, there was no doubt that that shape could only be one thing – the Cyclone. But why had Tails come here?

Knuckles had no time to answer that question, as the Cyclone opened fire on Eta. Knuckles couldn't tell if the shots were having any effect. But as Eta raised its gun arm to return fire, it was blown off in an instant. It then tried to use its other arm to take a swipe at the Cyclone, but that arm was soon blown off as well. A few seconds later, its head was blown off, and the remains of Eta collapsed.

Knuckles closed his eyes once more. He was now satisfied. Tails had pulled through, and now Eggman wouldn't take away either Amy or the Master Emerald. Now he could die in peace.

But it wasn't long before the silence was broken by a soft voice saying, "Come on, Knuckles, we're going." Knuckles recognised the voice as Tails'. He felt an arm on either side lift him up onto his feet. He winced slightly as pain returned to his wounded left leg. Supported by those unseen arms, Knuckles slowly limped forwards, not quite sure where he was going, but certain that those arms would guide him along the safest route.

Time had now slowed to a crawl, but eventually Knuckles felt the unseen arms hold him back for a moment. He then felt himself being lifted slowly, and as he was dropped, he felt softness beneath and behind him. He heard a click near him, followed by two more, slightly more distant clicks. Then he heard the familiar roar of an engine, and even before he felt the wind upon his face, he knew what was going on: he was going home.

But part of him knew that, even though he would return to Angel Island soon, he wouldn't live to see its beautiful sights again. The tall mountains, the lush grass, the flowing rivers, the shrine of the Master Emerald: all these things would never be looked upon by him again. And, even as these images flashed across his mind, blackness claimed him…

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_A strange sound brought Knuckles back to consciousness. It was a sound that he had not heard in a long time: the sound of laughter. He prepared to make the struggle to open his eyes, but found the task effortless. He found himself staring at a blue, cloudless sky. He could have stared at that perfect sky for hours, but part of him had to know what was going on. _

_The laughter came again, but it seemed closer this time. Then, as if the joy of whoever or whatever was laughing was contagious, Knuckles realised that he wasn't in pain anymore: at least, not physically. Casting his eyes over his body, Knuckles found that it had somehow completely healed. There weren't even any scars. As Knuckles rose to his feet, he didn't find the slightest protest from his once-wounded leg. _

_Then, as Knuckles looked out at the landscape he had suddenly found himself in, he gasped. He was in a place that, nearly two years ago, he thought he'd never see again, and yet it was the place he'd called home his entire life. He was on Angel Island, or rather, the place that would one day become Angel Island. For now, it was just the shrine of the Master Emerald. _

_Knuckles stood in awe at the wondrous sight before him. He had always felt strongly attached to the shrine of the Master Emerald on Angel Island, but that feeling was nothing compared to this. That shrine he had spent most of his life near was, he was sad to admit, ruined. Rain and wind from years beyond count, not to mention an attack by his people in the past, had taken its toll on the structure. That was not so with the shrine that now stood before him. It was complete, practically glowing, with a domed roof to shelter the Master Emerald that Knuckles could see even from here. There were seven stone pillars spread evenly around the shrine, several of which were missing on Knuckles' version. Atop each pillar was a Chaos Emerald. Knuckles knew that this was the way things should have been. _

_Knuckles thoughts were interrupted by resumed laughter from behind him, but this time, he heard a familiar voice amongst the others. Even before he turned around, he knew what he would see, but it was something a part of him wanted to see, so he still found himself turning. Knuckles' guess was right, for now standing before him was Tikal, who was surrounded by half a dozen chao. Tikal was exactly as Knuckles had remembered her: young, but with a maturity beyond her years that was always clearly shown. Her orange fur seemed a bit brighter than usual under the glowing sun. Her simple, traditional dress seemed almost unnaturally white, but Knuckles didn't care. He just couldn't believe that he was seeing her again. _

_Then, an unfortunate realisation entered Knuckles' mind. "I'm dead, aren't I?" he said, frowning. Indeed, it seemed to be the only logical explanation for how he could be here, in a place that no longer existed, with a girl who was no longer in the world of the living, when his prior memories had been of himself at the brink of death. _

_Tikal looked up from the chao surrounding her, but her hand still wandered around the group, gently stroking each of their heads in turn. She smiled. "No," she replied in her gentle, almost serene voice, "just sleeping." _

_Knuckles held out his arms in exasperation, as if in hope that the answer to the questions plaguing his mind would simply drop into his arms. "But then why am I here? I mean…" Knuckles trailed off, knowing that what he was about to say would probably make the situation awkward, "…you're dead, aren't you? And you left my world after the incident with Chaos was resolved. So how can I be here right now if I'm not dead?" _

_Tikal was no longer looking at Knuckles. Instead she was looking down at the chao she was currently petting. "What you just said is true. I am dead, and where we are now isn't a part of your world. Nor, before you ask, is it the past of your world. Rather, this is the place every being in the universe goes when they die. For everyone, it is different. It takes the form of nothing more and nothing less than their greatest desires." _

_Knuckles crossed his arms. "Then why isn't your father here? I thought he wanted the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, and where else would he find them but here?" _

_Tikal closed her eyes and was silent. A lone tear rolled down her face. "True, my father wanted the emeralds, but that was only half of what he wanted. He also wanted to see this shrine destroyed, to be razed to the ground, and for all the chao there to be slaughtered, and I fear that that's what he has gotten. For this world shows the greatest desire of even the worst beings, but for them it shows the utter emptiness of such desires." Tikal was silent once more. _

_Knuckles silently cursed himself for bringing up such a painful topic of discussion. In an effort to steer the conversation in a different direction, he said, "That still doesn't explain why I'm here." _

_Tikal laughed quietly to herself. "Knuckles, you have no understanding of subtlety. You need to have everything spelled out for you. Even when I showed you those visions years ago, I specifically picked obvious ones to make sure you'd understand them. I suppose that's just one of the things that defines who you are." While it hadn't been Knuckles' plan to make Tikal laugh, he was glad she had at least cheered up a bit. "Very well then," Tikal continued, "I'll explain it to you in terms you'll understand. After you and your friends escaped Eggman's clutches, you were near death. What's more, you had accepted that you were going to die then and there. The state of being alive is as much psychological as it is physical. In short, your body is still alive. However, your spirit, which had accepted that you were going to die, was sent to this world. I don't think I need to tell you why you ended up here with me and Chaos." _

"_Chaos is here?" Knuckles replied. _

"_Oh yes. He's currently lying as the pool of water in the shrine." Tikal pointed towards the shrine of the Master Emerald, but Knuckles didn't bother to turn. Chaos still gave him the creeps, even though the God of Destruction wasn't really living up to his title any more. "He's heard our entire conversation." _

"_And do you have any idea what he thinks of all this?" Knuckles had a gut feeling that Chaos knew a lot of things that could prove very useful, about the Chaos Emeralds, about the Master Emerald, about this place, and about how it might be possible to defeat Eggman. _

"_I'm sure he knows many things that I don't, Knuckles, but I doubt that he would share them with you. I think part of him still despises our people, and I believe that I alone am exempt from that feeling." Knuckles turned towards the Master Emerald shrine. He could tell that Chaos was watching him, probing into his thoughts. Knuckles wished that he could reverse the process. "But what we both know, Knuckles," said Tikal, "is that you've got to go home. Your friends need you, especially now that Sonic has gone, as does this world." Tikal hesitated before speaking again. "Knuckles, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you still have a key role to play in this war. But if you are to defeat Eggman, you'll need to let go of past hatreds, of past rivalries… and of past loves." Knuckles flinched. He had a bad feeling where this was going. "I knew how you felt the time I first appeared to you. It's only natural. I'm the only other echidna you've ever truly known. But ask yourself, is it really worth longing for a love that won't be able to truly work until you're dead? You must let go, Knuckles…" _

_Even as Tikal finished uttering those words, the world around Knuckles began to vanish. Even as he stood there, looking at the shrine of the Master Emerald, it faded into nothingness. Knuckles saw the form of Chaos standing there, its penetrating gaze ever upon him. Knuckles forced himself to turn away from it, to turn back towards Tikal, who was now floating in the white nothingness, still surrounded by the chao. She was smiling at him. Then she, too, started to fade away. Knuckles tried to run to her, to stop her, but his feet now seemed to be rooted in place. He reached out to her, but his hand came up nearly a foot short. Tikal, who was still smiling, raised one hand slowly, and waved. Then, as the last traces of her vanished, she uttered, "Farewell, Knuckles. Remember, let go…"_

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The next thing Knuckles was aware of was pain. Not a sharp pain, but rather a dull ache that permeated through his entire body. Something soft was beneath his body, but it did little to ease the pain. Knuckles slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry at first, but even before it came into focus, he could tell where he was: the bed in the hut on Angel Island that Tails stayed in. Knuckles had never had any use for it before, as he preferred to sleep outside at the shrine of the Master Emerald, but he had to admit, he was grateful for it now.

Thoughts of the Master Emerald snapped his mind back into focus. Was the Master Emerald safe? Reaching underneath his glove, he slowly pulled out the gem, and it expanded to fill his palm. Knuckles smiled. For now, at least, the Master Emerald was safe.

Only then did Knuckles take a moment to look over his body. It looked like a mess. Bandages covered the various wounds he'd taken in his battle with Eta, including a large, wet one on his chest over the burns he'd received, and a blood stained one wrapped around his left thigh, where the bullet must have entered. He wondered if whoever had done that bandage had taken the bullet out. Knuckles shook his head, knowing that it didn't pay to think about such things. Some of those wounds, whether they were the ones to his body or the ones to his pride, would never heal.

Knuckle sat up, ignoring the pain it caused to do so. Injuries or no injuries, he still had a job to do. Knuckles slowly edged himself towards the edge of the bed, letting his legs hang off the side. He tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in his left thigh caused him to fall back down. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd need a crutch. Knuckles looked around the hut, but he couldn't find anything suitable. He'd have to improvise. Knuckles tore a plank of wood from the edge of the bed. A quick test showed it to be bit too long for his liking, but it would do. Knuckles held the crutch under his left arm, and slowly rose to his feet, being careful not to put any weight on his left leg. He limped towards the door, stumbling slightly at first, but soon steadying himself.

As he opened the door, Knuckles stepped out into the cool, crisp air. A glance up at the sky revealed that it was still night-time, but Knuckles was sure it must be nearly dawn. He couldn't help but wonder where Tails was at this time, but he paid it no mind. Tails could take care of himself. He also wondered where Amy was, but he wasn't so sure that she could take care of herself.

Knuckles shook his head. He had to focus on the true reason he was out here. There would be time for other thoughts later. Luckily the Master Emerald shrine was right in front of him. Back when he and Tails had first set up their headquarters here, they had thought it would be advantageous if they stayed near each other, at least when they weren't out on any missions.

As Knuckles hobbled towards the shrine, he couldn't help but think about the vision he'd just had. He knew it couldn't have been a dream. It had been too real, and he had experienced enough visions from his earlier experiences with Tikal to know what one was like. Of course, the location of the vision baffled him, but he had given up trying to think about spiritual matters like the afterlife a long time ago.

It was what had happened in the vision that concerned Knuckles more than its location. Tikal was gone now, and Knuckles knew that he would never see her again. Even when she had left with Chaos before, Knuckles hadn't been so certain of the eternity of it all as he was now. He would never see her again, at least not while he was still alive. In the past year, and even now, death didn't seem like such a bad thing. The times of relative peace, before the founding of the Eggman Empire, seemed like a long-lost utopia. What point was there in going on, in the face of such a hopeless situation?

Knuckles banished those thoughts from his mind. He knew that his purpose couldn't be solely to protect the Master Emerald. Tikal had told him that he had a key role to play. But what could it be?

Knuckles stopped. He had reached the top of the steps of the shrine. He had reached the resting place of the Master Emerald. Knuckles reached under his glove and pulled out the Master Emerald. As it expanded in his hand, it began to glow. It knew that it had come home, and so too, did Knuckles now know that he had come home.

As the Master Emerald continued to expand, Knuckles had to hold it with two hands, which forced him to drop his crutch. The Master Emerald was a heavy burden, in more ways than one. As quickly as it had begun, the Master Emerald's expansion stopped. Sweating slightly, Knuckles placed the Master Emerald in the centre of the raised platform.

Immediately, Knuckles heard a loud rumble. He knew what it meant: Angel Island was once again rising into the air. It wasn't long before the rumbling stopped, and Angel Island's rising with it. Angel Island never floated very high in recent times, as if the Master Emerald knew that letting the island go any higher would put itself in great danger. Indeed, Angel Island rarely reached more than a few metres above sea level nowadays. But somehow, even that little height was soothing to Knuckles. It was one good thing that remained, even in the dark times in which he lived.

Just as Knuckles was considering what he should do next, he heard a voice behind him say, "Knuckles?" Knuckles picked up his crutch and turned around, wincing slightly at the returning pain in his leg. Amy was standing at the top of the steps, staring at him, a worried look upon her face. She appeared to have cleaned herself since their escape. "Knuckles," she said, "you shouldn't be up yet. You need to rest."

Knuckles clenched his fists even tighter than usual, and gritted his teeth. Amy thought he was weak. One defeat, and everyone started treating him like a baby. Clearly, she didn't remember that he had helped save her life. "This was something I had to do," he whispered, resisting the urge to yell at her.

"But you've barely had a day's rest. You should at least have waited until Tails or I got in, so we could have helped you."

"What, you don't think I can take care of myself?" Knuckles shouted. "I've gotten by just fine by myself my whole life, so I don't need you, or Tails or anyone else mothering me!"

Amy looked like she was about to cry. "I'm not mothering you, Knuckles, I just don't want to see you get hurt. You saved my life, and I don't think I could have repaid by just bandaging those injuries."

Knuckles did a double-take. "You did this?" he asked, pointing at the bandage on his thigh.

Amy nodded. "That's right. I'd taken a first-aid course a couple of years ago. You know, back before… all that happened." There was no need to be more specific. They both knew what she was talking about.

For a moment that seemed to stretch to infinity, all that could be heard was the gentle whistle of the wind. It was only in that moment that Knuckles realised how harsh he'd been on Amy. It was barely a year since she had lost Sonic, whom she cared for more than anyone else. There was no way she could have recovered from that loss, especially when it was considered that she'd been held prisoner for most of that time. Who knew what suffering she had undergone in that time? Part of Knuckles wanted to know, but he knew it was her business, and only her business.

Knuckles broke the silence. "In that case then, maybe I'd better follow the advice of the expert." With those words, Knuckles limped past Amy, and started walking down the steps of the shrine, back towards Tails' hut. "Wake me up if you see anything suspicious."

"Knuckles, wait!" Amy shouted.

Knuckles stopped, but didn't turn back to face Amy. He had a bad feeling about what she was going to say. "What?"

There was silence for a moment. "Why did you come to rescue me?" Amy asked. "I mean, you risked yourself and the Master Emerald, and I know how much that gem means to you."

Knuckles silently cursed to himself. His suspicions had been right. He had been wondering the same thing until recently, but while he was talking with Amy, he'd realised that the answer had been staring him in the face the whole time. Knuckles took a deep breath, and then said, "Because I didn't want Sonic's sacrifice to be in vain."

With those words, Knuckles walked down the steps, towards the rising sun, leaving a crying Amy in his wake.

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	3. In the Shadow of the Night

A/N: Yes, I know I haven't updated this fanfic in ages. I'm not going to make any excuses because I don't have any good ones. Rest assured though, I will try and vastly improve my updating rate.

I'm sorry for not responding to reviews made since my last chapter went up. It just seems a bit pointless to reply to comments that were made so long ago. Regardless, I did greatly appreciate all your reviews, and I will respond to any reviews you make for my work in the future.

This fanfic is now dedicated to the old English voice actors for the Sonic the Hedgehog games. As you probably know, they have been replaced by the voice actors from the 4kids dub of Sonic X. Frankly, the new voice actors aren't nearly as good as the old ones (Michael Pollock is great voice actor for Eggman though, and Deem Bristow needed to be replaced anyway). Ryan Drummond (Sonic), Deem Bristow (Eggman, RIP), David Humphrey (Shadow) and all the rest, I think I speak for most of the fans when I say that we miss you all, and wish that you hadn't been replaced. I doubt you will be equaled in my lifetime.

**Chapter 2: In the Shadow of the Night**

The rain poured down all around Knuckles, but he didn't care. He was standing atop the shrine of the Master Emerald, just like he had done nearly every night for as long as he could remember. But this time was different from all of those other times. On all of those long, cold nights, he had been facing away from the Master Emerald, keeping an eye out for any danger that could possibly come. This time, he was facing towards the Master Emerald.

It had been two weeks since Knuckles' battle with Eta. His wounds had just healed enough for him to able to walk. Fortunately, Amy had removed the bullet from his left thigh on that first night. If she hadn't, she thought it highly possible that Knuckles may never have been able to walk again. The burn across his chest had healed, and his trademark red fur was slowly re-growing. True, he still bore the scars of that battle, but the pain, or at least the physical pain, was gone.

This had been the first night since he'd returned to Angel Island that Amy and Tails had allowed him out alone. He wasn't going to waste his chance. He hadn't come out here to guard the Maser Emerald. He had come here for a more personal reason.

"I know there's more to you than meets the eye," Knuckles said, staring intently at the Master Emerald. Any onlooker would have thought he was crazy, talking to an inanimate object, but Knuckles knew exactly what he was doing. "All my life, I've felt some sort of strange aura emanating from you. I don't know why, but I'm sure that, even now, you can understand what I'm saying. Therefore, I'm going to ask one request of you, in exchange for the years of protection I have given you."

The Master Emerald remained as still as always, but Knuckles continued. "As you undoubtedly know, Tikal appeared to me two weeks ago. She said that there was some role that I had to play in this war against Eggman, something that I could do to bring this all to an end. But she wouldn't tell me what that something was. All I ask is that you tell me what it is I have to do."

All that could be heard was the pouring rain. The Master Emerald showed no sign of having noticed Knuckles at all. "You have to tell me," Knuckles said. "How am I supposed to do what it is I have to do if I don't even know what that is?"

The Master Emerald remained silent and motionless. Knuckles' patience was at its end. "I protect you for my entire life, and this is how you treat me?" he shouted, not caring if Tails or Amy heard. Knuckles dropped to his knees and raised his arms, as if he were begging for mercy. "Just give me a sign! Something! Anything!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the Master Emerald began to glow, and its bright light nearly blinded Knuckles. In spite of the bright light and the intensity of the situation, Knuckles was starting to feel incredibly weary. He knew he had to stay awake, to find out the Master Emerald was trying to tell him. A voice in the back of Knuckles' mind told him that perhaps the Master Emerald wasn't trying to tell him something. Perhaps it was trying to _avoid_ telling him something. As these thoughts swirled through the melee in his mind, Knuckles' eyes closed…

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Knuckles was awoken by the sound of someone shouting, "Knuckles, wake up!" As Knuckles slowly opened his eyes, he found Tails leaning over him. He was laying on his back, the cool stone surface of the shrine of the Master Emerald his only bed. Knuckles couldn't help but wonder what was so important that he had to be woken up. He'd been sleeping next to the Master Emerald every night since Tails moved here, with the exception of his recent two-week recovery period.

As Knuckles sat up, he realised it was dawn. "What is it, Tails?" Knuckles asked with a yawn.

"Just take a look over the edge and see," Tails replied, pointing to the cliff that comprised the edge of Angel Island.

Knuckles stood up and stretched. Slowly, he walked towards the cliff, his eyes half-shut. He really didn't know why he was doing this. He knew exactly what he'd see: the massive, seemingly endless body of water commonly known as the ocean.

As he reached the cliff, Knuckles looked down over the edge, opening his eyes fully as he did so. He leapt up slightly in shock as he did so. Less then fifty metres below him was a beach.

Knuckles took a moment to collect his thoughts. How exactly was this happening? Angel Island hadn't gone anywhere near land in the year since Eggman's conquest. Why would it do so now? Taking a closer look over the edge, it actually appeared that Angel Island had landed. That was truly strange. There were only two occasions when this had happened while the Master Emerald was still on Angel Island. During the first, around the time of his first encounter with Sonic, the Master Emerald had been in the Hidden Palace to keep it safe. The second time, there had been six Chaos Emeralds on the island, as well as the Master Emerald. Neither of those was the case now. No, this was truly a unique occurrence.

"When did this happen?" Knuckles asked Tails.

"Just a few minutes ago," Tails replied. "The noise it made woke me and Amy up. I'm surprised it didn't wake you up."

"I was… busy last night."

"Yeah, we heard you shouting something. Are you sure you're alright, Knuckles?" Tails looked vaguely concerned.

"I'm fine," Knuckles growled. In an attempt to dodge the issue, Knuckles looked towards the large landmass had landed by. The beach continued for a small distance, before being taken over by a lush rainforest. Knuckles found it very odd that Eggman's presence hadn't extended here yet. "Where do you think we are, Tails?"

"At a guess, I'd say we're somewhere along the western edge of South America, but I'd have to check on my G.P.S. to be sure."

"I thought South America was destroyed by the Eclipse Cannon."

"No, that was North America."

"Ah." Knuckles was silent for a while after that, and continued to stare out at the large landmass. Knuckles couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow the area seemed strangely familiar to him. "Want to check it out?"

"Well, first I'd better do a quick scan of the area to make sure that none of Eggman's forces are there. If there aren't any though, then I don't see the harm in exploring a bit."

"How long would a scan take?"

Tails shrugged. "Somewhere between ten and twenty minutes, depending on how much of a mess I left my stuff in last night."

Once, Knuckles would have laughed at that, but not anymore. It had been a long time since laughter had passed his lips. With a nod, Knuckles left Tails to do his work, while he went off in search of some breakfast.

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About half an hour later, Knuckles walked into Tails' workshop, chewing on a dead rabbit. He didn't normally eat much meat, but a fortnight of the miscellaneous broth Amy had given him had made him long for something a little more substantial.

Tails was sitting at his computer, with Amy standing behind him, looking intently at the screen. She looked towards Knuckles as he closed the door behind him, and a look of revulsion swept across her face.

"Eww, Knuckles," she said. "Don't you take the fur off those things before you eat them?"

"No," Knuckles said as he took another bite. After swallowing the mouthful, he added, "Should I?"

Tails turned his head towards Amy, before whispering, "This is why I cook my own food." Knuckles could still clearly hear what Tails said, but he got a feeling that that was the idea.

"Anyway," Knuckles said in an attempt to change the subject, "have you completed that scan yet, Tails?"

Tails nodded. "Yep, and the results are pretty interesting." He turned back towards the screen. "Sensors show no sign of any significant technology, but that's not the interesting part. The interesting is that I'm picking up some stonework, most likely buildings. It's all on ground level and seems to be in fairly good condition, though, so it can't be that long since it was in use."

Knuckles frowned. This was getting stranger by the minute. How could something like this have escaped Eggman's knowledge? "Are you picking up any advanced life forms?"

Tails shook his head. "No, but it's impossible to be absolutely sure from this distance, at least with my equipment. I could go out in the Tornado 3 and take a closer look, if you want."

"Don't do that. On the offhand chance that it's a trap, they'll probably be expecting you to come in the Tornado. No, we'll go in on foot."

"Should we go now?"

"No time like the present." Knuckles looked at Amy. "Amy do you know how to work the communications…" he struggled to find the right word, "…thing here?"

Amy nodded and said, "Tails showed me yesterday. It seems simple enough."

"Good, you stay here and take control of the communications side of things. Tails, you're coming with me."

"Why don't I get to go?"

Knuckles sighed. He had forgotten how independent Amy was sometimes, or maybe he'd hoped that the events of the past year had caused it to fade, just like every other remotely good thing in the world. "Three reasons, Amy. First, you're too young."

"But I'm older than Tails!"

Knuckles resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. Truth be told, he didn't have even a vague figure for anyone's age, even his own, but he was surprised by this revelation. To Knuckles, Tails had always seemed more mature than Amy, and he had simply assumed that that meant that Tails was older. "I'll have to take your word on that. Regardless, Tails has proven himself more than capable time and time again." Meanwhile, Tails was slowly stepping away into a corner, clearly not wanting to get involved in this argument. Ignoring him, Knuckles continued on. "He's shown an incredible knack for surviving through situations where anyone else would surely perish, and as you would know, he saved both our hides just a week ago. In fact, by now, I think he's survived more encounters than _your hero _did."

Knuckles let those words hang for a moment. Amy opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no sound came out. A lone tear slid down her cheek. Knuckles knew that what he was doing was cruel, but it was not unnecessarily so. You had to be tough and disciplined to survive nowadays, and Knuckles was taking the first step in making Amy both of those. It was a case of having to be cruel to be kind.

A brief moment later, Knuckle continued talking. "Ever since the events of last year, Tails has followed me through thick and thin, doing things that no one should be forced to do. All the same, though, I have been forced to leave Tails here to take care of the communications side of things on several occasions, including last week's mission, and I don't think he should have to do that any more. That brings us to the second reason why you won't be going on this mission: because we need someone to take care of communications."

"But why can't you take care of that? I mean, you shouldn't be going out anyway, what with your injuries and all."

Knuckles scowled. It took all of his willpower to resist the urge to yell, but somehow he did. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards Amy, his pounding footsteps echoing through the cabin. In a few moments, Knuckles was standing only a few inches away from Amy. Although he wasn't much taller than Amy, he was sure that his suppressed rage made him look very intimidating.

"Conveniently," he said slowly, "that brings us to the third reason why you cannot go, which is because I say so. While you're on my island, you'll follow my orders. Now, you could leave right now, since we're on land, but I wouldn't recommend it. I would hazard a guess that even now, Eggman is seeking to have us all killed in the most painful way possible, for we are all that remains of a bygone era. Once he kills us – and it's only a matter of time before he does – there will be no one left to stand in his way."

Many more tears were flowing out of Amy's eyes now, and a few sobs could be heard as well. "Now, Amy Rose," Knuckles said, being sure to use her full name, "do you understand why you cannot go on this mission?" Amy nodded slowly and without conviction. For now, at least, Knuckles had succeeded in giving her a dose of reality. He stepped away from her. "Good, then let me tell you what you'll have to do. Tails will give you brief updates on our progress over the communicator. These updates will be every hour, on the hour. If we miss an update, be especially on your guard. If we miss two updates in a row, then flee this place as fast as you possibly can, and head south, since there are less cities that way. Under _no circumstances_ are you to follow us. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Amy whispered.

"Alright then, take your post." Amy slowly trudged towards the communications station, if you could call it that. In truth, it was just a desk with a few scanning devices and a communicator, but it served its purpose. As Amy walked away, Knuckles turned towards Tails, who was walking out of the corner, staring at Knuckles with a dumbstruck expression. "Tails, grab a communicator, some scanning equipment and a day's worth of emergency rations, and meet me outside." Knuckles turned away and walked outside, to be alone with his thoughts.

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A few minutes later, Knuckles and Tails set off into the rainforest. They both carried a backpack filled with equipment and supplies, but they were quite light, as Tails' inventions were always quite small. Tails carried a miniature scanner with him in his right hand to ensure that they kept on the right course. Knuckles carried the Master Emerald with him, kept safely under his glove as it always was whenever he left Angel Island. He frowned as he realised that that was becoming an increasingly common occurrence.

They had been walking in silence for about half an hour when Tails broke the silence. "Knuckles?" he asked.

"Yeah, what is it, Tails?" Knuckles replied, expecting important information.

"Don't you think you were a little bit hard on Amy? I mean, she's been through some really tough times, you know."

Knuckles was silent for a moment. Truthfully, he had been suspecting and dreading that Tails would bring up this topic of conversation, but that didn't mean that he was ready for it. He'd have vastly preferred it if Tails had just let the issue slide. "We've all been through some tough times, Tails," Knuckles finally said. "We're still going through them, in fact. We'll probably be stuck in these tough times for the rest of our lives. That's why we can't afford to let our guard down. Amy's been isolated from the world for over a year. She doesn't know how dangerous a place it is now. Someone has to teach her, or she won't survive."

Tails frowned. He still seemed unconvinced. "I know that, but couldn't you have broken it to her more gently? Or let me do it, even."

"Tails, I gave you two weeks to do it, and although I'm not going to blame you for it, you failed. So I had to take things into my own hands. You may not like my methods, but they're the only ones I know. You of all people should understand that sometimes a guy has to do things his own way."

With those words, the conversation stopped, and Knuckles and Tails continued their march through the jungle. Time passed slowly, as did their trek. They contacted Amy every hour, on the hour, as promised. Knuckles let Tails handle that, as he doubted that Amy really wanted to talk to him right now.

Around noon, when they were about to stop for a quick break, Tails stopped. "Sorry to bother you, Knuckles, but my scanning device has gone haywire."

"What?" Knuckles replied. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know, but something is interfering with it. It must be some really powerful energy source."

An idea popped into Knuckles' head. "I wonder…" he whispered to himself as he pulled the Master Emerald out from under his glove. Sure enough, it was glowing brightly. "That would explain it."

Tails nodded. "Yeah, it would. Do you have any idea why it would be glowing now, though?"

Knuckles knew all too well. "It's because we're close to something important."

"You mean important in the good sense or the bad sense?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Tails."

Tails rolled his eyes. Knuckles scowled, but Tails didn't appear to notice. "Anyway," Tails said, "before the scanning device broke down, it showed that we were pretty close to those buildings I spotted earlier. In fact, we'll probably be able to see them now, if we use some more old-fashioned technology." He took his backpack off, and rummaged around in it. He then pulled out two pairs of binoculars. Tails threw one to Knuckles, and looked through the other one himself.

Knuckles looked through the binoculars, but found that, for some reason, everything appeared smaller through them. That was odd, as Knuckles thought that the whole point of binoculars was to make things look bigger. "Hey Tails, I think these things are broken. Everything appears smaller for some reason."

"You're looking through the wrong end, Knuckles," Tails replied without even looking at Knuckles.

"Ah." Knuckles turned the binoculars around and looked though them again. Sure enough, he now found that he could make out objects that were a considerable distance away. In fact, he could just make out a large group of stone buildings in a low valley not too far from his current position. "Do you see that, Tails?" Knuckles asked, pointing in the general direction of the buildings.

"I sure do, Knuckles. What do you think we should do?"

Knuckles took the binoculars away from his eyes. The time for scouting was over. "We're going in."

Tails took the binoculars away from his eyes, and looked at Knuckles incredulously. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Knuckles? Wouldn't it be better to wait until it's dark so we can sneak in?"

"Tails, if it's dark, that will just make it easier for someone to ambush us. Besides, if something bad is going to happen, we might as well get it over with, right?" Knuckles didn't wait for a response, but instead set off down into the valley, towards the city.

Knuckles heard Tails sigh as he followed, but he didn't pay it any mind. For some reason that he couldn't fathom, Knuckles felt like he needed to go down there. He needed to know what lay in wait for him. It was almost as if he felt that the answers to his questions lay down in that village. He had no idea why he thought that, but he just did.

It took about ten minutes for Knuckles and Tails to navigate their way through the dense undergrowth surrounding the city. By the time they reached the outskirts of the village, they had missed their last contact time with Amy, but both of them seemed to have forgotten entirely about her.

As Knuckles walked with Tails into the village, he began to immediately feel uneasy. The ancient buildings seemed strangely familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the whole village seemed to be mimicking something he had seen before.

Then, the answer hit him, and he stopped in his tracks. "Tails," he whispered, for he still wasn't sure if there were any foes in hiding around here, "do you know where I've seen these sorts of buildings before?"

"Mystic Ruins?" Tails replied. Clearly, the young fox must have visited that area before.

Knuckles nodded. "It's the exact same style, I'm sure. But why would that be the case?"

Tails didn't seem very fazed by that question. "Well, I know that many ancient civilisations had similarities in their building styles. Still, it's very odd to find buildings of this exact style so far south."

"Tails, it's more than that. These buildings look like they're almost brand new. At the very least, they look like they're still being inhabited."

"But Knuckles, there's no one around. Someone should have come out to see us by now."

"Yeah," Knuckles whispered to himself as his eyes scanned the area around him, looking for the slightest movement. "It's quiet. Too quiet."

"Yeah," Tails replied in a faintly nervous tone. "It's almost as if -" Tails voice cut out, and Knuckles heard a thud.

"Tails?" Knuckles said as he turned around. Tails lay face-down on the ground before him, clearly unconscious. Knuckles heard a faint rustle in the bushes near one of the buildings. He knew better than to walk into an obvious trap, though. "Come out and face me, you coward!" he shouted.

A split second later, Knuckles felt two pricks in the back of his neck. Acting on reflex, Knuckles pulled out the two darts that had been lodged in his neck. It was too late, though, for Knuckles was already starting to feel dizzy. There must have been some drug in those darts.

Knuckles' vision was starting to go blurry. He knew that he had to get himself and Tails out of the village, and fast. Knuckles staggered over towards Tails, but before he could reach him, he felt several more darts pierce his skin. Knuckles swayed on the spot. His vision was beginning to spin.

Knuckles was dimly aware of several dark figures approaching. As he collapsed, though, all of his vision turned to blackness.

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Amy paced around the cabin. She knew that she had to stay calm. Knuckles and Tails had missed their last two updates, but there could be any number of possible explanations for that. Some of them were good, some were ordinary and most of them were bad. Still, it didn't pay to worry about them now. They knew how to take care of themselves.

What was more important now was what she was supposed to do. She knew that Knuckles had told her to flee if such a situation occurred, but part of her didn't want to go. Part of her didn't feel right abandoning Angel Island, and indeed abandoning Knuckles and Tails. She owed her life to them, and she knew that that was a debt that could never be truly repaid. Did that mean that she shouldn't even try?

Amy looked at the screen of the communications station. It showed that Knuckles and Tails were somewhere within the large cluster of buildings they had picked up on the scanner. It would only take Amy a few hours to get there if she hurried. Knuckles and Tails had been moving at a more leisurely pace, from what she had heard.

Amy couldn't help but wonder whether it would even be any use for her to go. Could she truly succeed where Tails and Knuckles had failed? Both of them were far stronger, both in body and mind, than she believed herself to be. Any foe that could take down both Knuckles and Tails was a force to be reckoned with.

Amy took a deep breath, as she pulled out something from underneath her right glove. It was a heart-shaped locket. Somehow, she had managed to keep it safe during that year she had spent as Eggman's prisoner. She flipped it open. Inside, there was a picture of Sonic. It wasn't a particularly special picture, as it had always been impossible to get him to stay still long enough to get a decent photo. Still, it was all Amy had left of him.

Amy knew what Sonic would do in this situation. Assuming that he hadn't been fighting alongside Knuckles and Tails in the first place, he would hasten boldly to their rescue without thinking twice. Of course, it was that same instinct that had led to his death. She silently cursed herself for her part in that.

Amy sighed. She knew that she couldn't think about what Sonic would do, because she wasn't Sonic. She would never be able to live up to his heroic deeds. She had to figure out what was right for her, what her path was to be in life. She couldn't help but reflect on Sonic's last words:

"_And Amy, take care of yourself."_

It was, of course, perfectly possible to interpret that as Sonic saying that Amy should stay out of trouble, so as to keep safe. Indeed, for a long time, that was how Amy had viewed it. But Knuckles' speech to her before she left had struck a chord with her. It was impossible to stay safe in this new world. All anyone could do was stay alive, and that required a degree of independence and courage that Amy simply didn't possess. That was something that Amy would have to develop if she was ever to truly take care of herself.

As Amy closed the locket and slipped it back under her glove, a lone tear slid down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Sonic," she whispered, as she stepped outside, going to meet her destiny.

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Knuckles was awoken by the feeling of someone slapping his face. His whole body felt sore, but as he tried to stretch his limbs, he found that they were securely bound with rope. He could probably break the bonds if he used all his strength, but it would be best to figure out what was going on before he tried that.

Knuckles groaned as he opened his eyes. A large mass of black creatures was all that he could see with his blurred vision. He assumed that there were still traces of the drug that knocked him out in his body. Knuckles blinked a few times to clear his vision.

As the shapes before him became clear, Knuckles gasped. Standing before him was a group of creatures that he thought he would never see again: echidnas. He had never seen any other live echidnas in real life, but he obviously knew what they looked like. There was no mistaking it: these creatures were echidnas. Knuckles had no idea how any echidnas could still be remaining, as he thought that Chaos had killed them all. Still, that didn't really matter to Knuckles right now. All that mattered was that he was their prisoner. He knew it wouldn't be easy to escape, as they were all bigger, and thus probably stronger, than him. He was going to need a strategy.

Since the echidnas hadn't yet tried to talk to Knuckles, he took a moment to look around. He was in a large, empty space somewhere in the middle of the city. He assumed it functioned as a town square or something similar. Turning his head to the left, a rather difficult feat, he found that Tails was tied to a stake. Knuckles assumed that he was bound to a similar stake, but he couldn't be sure, as he couldn't turn his head that much. Tails looked at him with a look of fear, but didn't say anything.

"Let me speak to them," said a gruff voice from within the group. The group of echidnas parted in the middle, and one figure began walking towards Knuckles. It was clear that he held some position of power, for he was garbed quite differently from the other echidnas. Being males, they wore little or nothing, but this echidna wore a dark grey, full-length robe, with thick white fur on the edges. He was rather chubby, especially when compared to the muscular build of his followers. His fur was maroon, with faint white streaks in his dreadlocks, and white fur on his muzzle and eyebrows. He wore a ring on each of his fist-spikes, and each was encrusted with a different gem: a ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond respectively. In his right hand, he held a long wooden staff, which had a large diamond attached to the top.

Finally, the echidna stopped, within a few feet of Knuckles. He was about a head taller than Knuckles, but the latter was determined not to show any sign of fear or weakness. That would only give the mystery echidna a psychological advantage.

For a few moments, the echidna just stared at Knuckles, his eyes boring into Knuckles' mind. His expression was grim, but showed very little emotion. Then, the echidna spoke. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked in the same gruff voice Knuckles had heard earlier.

Knuckles managed a faint grin. "Since you're the host, I think it would be polite if you began the introductions," he replied.

The other echidna scowled, and his grip on his staff tightened. "You watch your mouth," he growled. "If I were not so merciful, I might kill you for such a disrespectful comment. Still, since you are clearly ignorant, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, at least on that matter. I am Muscowequan, ruler of this city of Nachide." Knuckles opened his mouth, but Muscowequan interrupted him. "Before you ask, Nachide is, of course, a city populated by echidnas. As you may know, most of our civilization was wiped out millennia ago by a beast of great power. We are the descendents of the survivors."

Knuckles resisted the urge to point out that Chaos deserved more respect than to be called a beast. It wouldn't get him anywhere in this situation. "So, would I be correct in assuming that you are a descendent of Pachacamac?"

Muscowequan didn't answer that question. Instead, he simply walked up to Knuckles. Muscowequan raised his left fist and slowly used his fist spikes to dig into Knuckles' right cheek. Knuckles winced slightly as the spikes punctured his skin. Muscowequan left his fist there for a moment, and then withdrew it in one quick motion, tearing a bit of skin from Knuckles' face in the process.

Knuckles could feel the blood trickling down his cheek. As if to make the point even clearer, Muscowequan raised his gloved, bloodstained fist before Knuckles' eyes. "I bear no relation to that foul, broken line of Pachacamac," he spat out. "His accursed line was broken when the beast attacked. It was about the only good thing that beast did. It was Pachacamac's weakness and ignorant folly that was responsible for the destruction of our empire. One of my ancestors was appointed to lead our people in that fiend's stead. My ancestors built this city, and we have ruled it ever since. Now, that's my introduction out of the way. So, will you tell us who you are and what you are doing here, or would you prefer me to introduce the several thousand echidnas who live in this city?"

Knuckles was shocked at that figure. He knew the city was big, but he hadn't for a moment thought it was that big. This situation was getting stranger by the minute. "No, just your name will do. We are simple travelers who were in the area. We spotted this city as we were traveling. We assumed it was uninhabited, so we thought we'd find ourselves some shelter for the night." Thankfully, Tails didn't voice any objections to that. Knuckles knew it was a lie, but he had to play it safe, as he still didn't know whether or not these echidnas were allied with Eggman. It was perfectly possible, and would explain why this city was still standing. It wouldn't, of course, explain why the Master Emerald had led Knuckles and Tails here, but Knuckles had never claimed to fully understand the methods of the Master Emerald.

Muscowequan raised an eyebrow. "You stopped to seek shelter in the middle of the day?"

Knuckles realised the folly of what he had said, but he kept up the act by nodding. "That's right. Our days of travel have been long and hard recently, and it's a rare experience for us to have a roof over our heads."

"I see," Muscowequan said, although he still seemed unconvinced. "Tell me, why is that you are traveling in such isolated areas as this?"

Knuckles would have shrugged, but the rope rendered him unable to do so. "No reason, really. We're just aimless wanderers. We travel around the place, taking life one day at a time. It's a bit purposeless sometimes, but what are you going to do?"

"Fascinating story, but one that is entirely implausible. Still, we'll get the truth out of you sooner or later, even if we have to beat it out of you." Knuckles flinched ever so slightly at that thought. Part of him dreaded the thought of those echidnas beating him for days on end. "What's more important to me now," Muscowequan added, "is learning your names. Don't lie to me on this account. There's no point whatsoever in doing so, as you are complete strangers to me."

Knuckles dwelled on that point for a moment. Muscowequan was right. If he and the other echidnas were working for Eggman, then they would already know who Knuckles and Tails were. After all, it was highly unlikely that there were any other duos consisting of an echidna and a two-tailed fox around. On the other hand, if Muscowequan and co. weren't working for Eggman, then Knuckles and Tails' respective names would mean nothing to them.

"Very well, Muscowequan," Knuckles finally said, "I'll tell you our names. I'm Knuckles, and my friend is Miles Prower, but he prefers to be called Tails."

"I'll decide what to call him, Knuckles," Muscowequan replied. Slowly, he walked over to Tails. The fox was little more than half Muscowequan's height, and Knuckles could just make out the fear in his eyes. "So, Miles," Muscowequan said, "what is a boy as young as you doing traveling with someone who is clearly not related to you and is considerably older than you? Don't even try answering for him, Knuckles, let him speak for himself."

Tails was silent for a moment, but eventually he spoke. "I'm an orphan. My parents died when I was very young. For a while, an older friend looked after me. About a year ago, that friend died, too. Since Knuckles was a friend of that friend, he took me in, and I've been travelling with him ever since." Knuckles was pleasantly surprised that Tails had been able to come up with such a good answer that, as far as Knuckles knew, was basically true.

Muscowequan gave no sign as to what he truly thought. He simply snapped his fingers, or as close a thing as could be done with those gloves, and said, "Guards, take them to the highest-security cell we have." Knuckles heard footsteps all around him, even though he couldn't see behind him. He felt the bonds around his arms and legs being loosened, and finally removed. Knuckles stumbled slightly at this sense of slight freedom. His arms and legs were numb from being held still for so long.

As Knuckles was surrounded by large, muscular echidnas, Muscowequan added, "Oh, I wouldn't try escaping if I were you. These guards are incredibly well-trained and will beat you to death if they're given half a reason to."

"Great," Knuckles groaned. According to his calculations, that was about a quarter of a reason, so he was still safe. Truthfully, he had no intention of escaping just yet. Knuckles could tell that these guards were stronger than him, and even if they weren't as agile, which Knuckles assumed to be the case, they still outnumbered him and Tails greatly. There was also the fact that Knuckles didn't care to admit, the fact that he hadn't done any training since his loss to Eta. Even if Tails and Amy were to have let him, he just couldn't quite bring himself to do so.

The echidnas formed a tight circle Knuckles, giving him little or no room to move. It also meant that he couldn't see Tails. That was going to complicate matters if they were taken to separate cells. Knuckles hoped that these echidnas had a low crime rate, and thus only the solitary prison.

The circle began to move, and the echidna behind Knuckles forced his fist into his back, forcing Knuckles along. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of moving within such a tight circle, Knuckles' movement bore a closer resemblance to stumbling than walking. Regardless, the group slowly but surely moved through the city. They made several turns along the way, and Knuckles soon lost all track of where they were. That was really going to complicate matters.

Knuckles took a moment to look up at the sky. It was late afternoon. Soon, the sun would be setting. That, at least, was something to be grateful for, as Knuckles knew that that vastly improved the chances of him and Tails escaping. Still, Knuckles couldn't help but wonder what they were going to do about Amy. By now, she should have fled to the south, as per his orders. It was going to be difficult to find her, that much was certain.

Knuckles' thoughts were interrupted as the group stopped. Knuckles could just make out a building through the gaps between his guards. He heard a door opening, and the group began to force him inside. Knuckles assumed that this was the prison.

It was dark and rather dank inside. Knuckles had little time to think of this, though, as he was promptly led down some stairs. The stairs were surprisingly wide, which allowed the entire group to fit on them. They soon got down the stairs, and Knuckles was led a short distance more. The group parted at the front. Knuckles saw an open cell door in front of him.

"Get in," grunted one of the echidnas. Knuckles walked in, as there was still no point in fighting. The cell was even danker than the rest of the prison. Knuckles was sure he could smell some rotting sewage in the area. It was also very cramped, even more cramped than the cell he had had when he was being held prisoner by Eggman on the ARK. Knuckles was starting to feel faintly claustrophobic. He went and sat down on a hard wooden cot in the corner. About a minute later, Tails was shoved in, and the cell door was closed behind him. He fell over as he entered the cell. Knuckles got up off the cot and went over to help him up. As he was pulled to his feet, Tails said nothing, but his gratitude could be seen in his eyes.

One of the echidnas, who was perfectly visible between the bars of the cell, spoke. "My lord Muscowequan told me to tell you that you have until noon tomorrow to tell us the truth," he said. "At that point, we shall start using less pleasant methods to get the truth out of you." With those words, he and the other echidnas left, leaving Knuckles and Tails alone in the cell.

They walked over to the cot where Knuckles had been sitting and sat down once more. For a few long moments, neither of them said anything. Then, Knuckles noticed that Tails was shivering. It was certainly on the cool side of things in the cell, but Knuckles could take it. Clearly, Tails couldn't. "Do you know a way we can light a fire with what we have with us, Tails?"

Tails shook his head. "The only way I could think of doing that would be for you to snap this cot in two and rub the pieces together. You could probably make a fire that way. Of course, then we'd have to sit on the floor, which is probably far colder than what we're sitting on right now, so it's probably not worth it. Of course, if I had still had my equipment, I could make a fire easily, but they took all my stuff when they captured us." Tails sighed, and then sat bolt upright. He looked briefly at the stairs, presumably to check if there were any guards. Then, he whispered, "Knuckles, did they take the Master Emerald?"

Now it was Knuckles' turn to sit bolt upright. He hadn't even thought about the Master Emerald since he'd woken up. Clearly, the sight of other echidnas had made him lose his touch. Hurriedly, he reached under his glove. Fortunately, he felt the familiar sensation of the Master Emerald there. "No, I still have it," he said with a sigh of relief.

For a few minutes, there was silence once more. Then, Tails spoke up. "Do you have a plan for us to get out of here?" he asked.

"Well, that depends what you mean by a plan," Knuckles replied. "If you count bashing our way out of here in the middle of the night and running like hell as a plan, then yes, I do have a plan."

"Um, not that I'm doubting your incredible plan-making abilities or anything, Knuckles, but…" Tails trailed off.

Knuckles had a vague idea of what Tails was worried about. "Just say it, Tails."

"Well, surely there are going to be guards around the prison. How are we supposed to beat them? They look pretty tough."

Knuckles nodded noncommittally. "Yeah, I'm a bit worried about that myself. Without knowing how many guards there are or how they're arranged, I can't really form any concrete plan. Our best bet is to double team one, take him out quickly, and then run through the resulting gap. If that fails, we'll just have to play it by ear."

Tails said nothing, but it was clear to Knuckles that something was bothering him. Still, it wasn't his place to barge into the affairs of others. "Knuckles, why do you think they're holding us here?" Tails asked.

Knuckles sighed. He was wondering the same thing. "I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing they see us as some sort of threat."

"But why would they see you as a threat? You're an echidna, just like them!"

"You're half right, Tails. I am an echidna, but I'm just not like them. To them, I'm an outsider, just like you or anyone else. They've spent all their lives thinking that they were the sole survivors of Chaos' attack, and now they find another. They may have hoped that there were other survivors, but when one does come, they don't know what to think. They certainly can't trust such a survivor."

Tails nodded, and then said vaguely, "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country."

"Did you make that up?"

Tails shook his head. "No, but it wasn't anyone you'd have ever heard of who said it."

"It's true, though." Knuckles scowled. "All too true."

Tails sighed. "Knuckles, something's bothering you, and it's not just that we're being held prisoner. I can see that. You want to tell me what it is?"

Knuckles knew that what was bothering him was really none of Tails' business. Still, it couldn't hurt to get it out in the open. "Tails, did Sonic ever tell you what the echidnas did all those years ago?"

Tails shrugged. "He said they attacked the shrine of the Master Emerald and killed the chao there. That infuriated Chaos, who then killed them."

Knuckles nodded. "He gave you the basics, but he failed to capture the magnitude of the crime," he growled. "It was bad enough that they slaughtered innocents who were no threat to them. It was bad enough that they attacked Tikal, the only echidna with a brain in her head. It was bad enough that they did it all out of their own selfish lust for power. But it's the consequences of that act that are truly unforgivable. Because of them, a power that should have and would have been kept safe was unleashed. Because of them, we had a situation where any tyrant could gain a power beyond imagination. Because of this, we have, in our short lives, witnessed people get killed by the million, seen friends die futile deaths, witnessed the rise of a totalitarian empire, and been stuck in a conflict with no end in sight. All this, simply because those echidnas wanted a little more power."

"Knuckles, surely you're not going to judge an entire race, _your _race, on the actions of a few lunatics."

"Tails, I don't know how Tikal portrayed the ancient echidnas to you. To me, though, she showed a society that wouldn't listen to her, a society that agreed with Pachacamac. That is a society I can't forgive."

Tails raised his arms in exasperation. "Knuckles, these echidnas aren't the ones who did those things! You heard Muscowequan; he hates what happened as much as you do!"

"Tails, for someone who's been through so much, you still have a degree of naivety. Muscowequan is a hypocrite. It's clear to me that he's just as power-hungry as Pachacamac. Do you honestly think that, if we were to place the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald before him, he wouldn't take them for himself?"

Tails was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No, I suppose you're right. Power corrupts like that. But what about the other echidnas? What have they done that angers you so much?"

"They've let such a reign of terror continue. Evil triumphs when the forces of good do nothing."

"So are we going to accuse every civilian in the world of being perpetrators of evil, just because they don't fight Eggman?"

"You're exaggerating the point, Tails, but you're basically right. If all the people in the world rose up against Eggman, he would be defeated. The robots he has under his command are more like a security force than an actual army. They wouldn't last long in all-out war on the sort of scale I'm thinking of. But alas, that's not going to happen anytime soon."

"You seem to be even bitterer than usual tonight."

Knuckles sighed again. He'd noticed that had become a habit of his in recent times. "I suppose the futility of our cause has just hit me more than usual recently. Up until two weeks ago, we always had a goal that could be achieved. At first it was to escape the ARK, and then it was to rescue Amy. Now, all that's left is a massive force of robots and a fiend with an unstoppable super-weapon to defeat. What achievable goal is there now?"

Tails leaned back against the wall, and stared into nothingness. "Well, first we have to escape from this place. Then, we could try and find other resistance forces. There must be others around."

Knuckles shook his head. "Tails, you know the only way any resistance group can survive nowadays is to exist in total secrecy. It would be almost impossible to find such a group."

Tails shrugged. "Well then, I suppose we just have to believe that there's still a part we have to play in this war."

Those words struck an instant chord with Knuckles. Tikal had said that there was still a part he had to play in this war. Unfortunately, Knuckles had no idea what that phantom role was. When he had pleaded to the Master Emerald for answers, it had led him here. Knuckles racked his brain as he tried to find a reason for that. Certainly, several thousand echidnas could be useful in the fight against Eggman, but there was no way they were going to enter that fight. They had spent millennia isolated from the rest of the world and, although Knuckles hated to admit it, they had done pretty well out of it. There was simply no reason for them to fight a foe who had made no action against them. Then, of course, there was the fact that the echidnas wouldn't follow Knuckles anyway. That was even more the case while Muscowequan ruled.

As Knuckles dwelt on these issues, he lost all track of time. That situation wasn't exactly helped by the lack of windows, but even Knuckles' internal clock didn't seem to pick up the time that had passed. Outside, the sun had set, and it was truly night time.

Knuckles' thoughts were interrupted by the sound of fighting upstairs. He heard several masculine screams, each of which was followed by a loud thud. As the last scream pierced the night, Knuckles and Tails saw an echidna fall down the stairs, hitting most of them in the process. As he landed on the floor just outside the cell, Knuckles noticed that one of the echidna's shoulders was dislocated. Just as Knuckles wondered who could possibly have defeated all those guards, he saw a familiar figure run down the stairs.

"Amy?" he questioned. Sure enough, it was Amy. Her face had a look of pure rage on it, and in her right hand, she held a red and yellow hammer that was larger than any Knuckles had ever seen. All in all, if Knuckles didn't know Amy personally, he would be very scared right now. Instead, he was merely very surprised that Amy had come.

Amy, on the other hand, didn't seem the slightest bit surprised. "That's right," she said eagerly, "and I'm here to rescue you!"

Knuckles raised his right hand. "Um, Amy, did it ever occur to you that we could escape ourselves?"

Amy clearly wasn't convinced. "Well, why are you still in there, then?"

Knuckles groaned. "We were waiting until it was darker, so we could escape without having to fight all the guards. Still, clearly they can't have been that tough."

"What did you say?" Amy shouted.

"He didn't say anything!" Tails interjected. "Say, Knuckles, why don't you get us out of here, just to prove your point?" That seemed to calm Amy down a bit.

Knuckles still stood agape at Amy's outburst, which seemed most unusual for her. Fortunately, Tails' request brought him back to reality. "Um, yeah," Knuckles said vaguely. He walked over to the bars of the prison and grabbed two adjacent ones, one in each hand. Then, he effortlessly bent them, spreading them apart to form a gap big enough to walk through, which he and Tails promptly did.

"There, you see Amy?" Knuckles boasted. "We had it all under control. Now do you believe that we can handle these situations?"

"Only if you believe that I can take care of myself," Amy replied.

Knuckles was about to voice an objection, but then he remembered that Amy was still holding the hammer. He didn't know how much damage that thing could do, and he wasn't exactly eager to be a test subject. "Okay, deal," he finally said.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt as Knuckles felt a burst of strange energy, and then heard a loud explosion above ground. "Did you bring someone else with you, Amy?" Tails asked. Amy shook her head, and her hands shook slightly as she did so.

"Then that's not good," Knuckles said. "Let's move!" There were no objections made as Knuckles ran up the stairs, two at a time, with Tails and Amy in hot pursuit. They sprinted out of the prison, paying no attention to the unconscious guards that had been strewn about the place like rag dolls.

The city was starting to dissolve into chaos. Screams could be heard in the streets, and Knuckles could see that one building had been leveled totally. Several trees were on fire, and it was only a matter of time before the fire spread further. There was no indication as to what had caused this. Lightning bolts were flashing around in the clouds above, but they showed no indication of striking anywhere near the city.

Once again, Knuckles' thoughts were interrupted, this time by a deep voice shouting, "Chaos Spear!" Knuckles felt another burst of energy as another loud explosion rocked the city, but he cared little for that now. He knew that voice. Flexing the muscles in his legs, Knuckles leapt to the top of a nearby building. Tails flew behind, carrying Amy.

Now, they could see what was happening. A familiar silhouette was floating in that sky above the city. Knuckles hoped that wasn't who he thought it was.

Alas, Knuckles' worst fears were confirmed, as a flash of lightning illuminated the area. The mystery figure was revealed. He was similar to Sonic in appearance, except his fur was black, with red streaks in his quills, and the quills on the side of his head went up rather than down. He was floating in the air with the aid of his read and white rocket shoes.

"Shadow!" Knuckles, Tails and Amy shouted in unison.

Clearly, Shadow must have heard that word, for he turned around in midair to face them. His red eyes seemed to pierce the barriers of Knuckles' mind. Knuckles tore his eyes away from them, and they darted to Shadow's right hand, which had the green Chaos Emerald in it. Knuckles flinched at the sight of that. It explained how Shadow was able to cause so much damage to the city, but it didn't make him feel any easier. He had assumed that Shadow simply had similar abilities to Sonic, but clearly he had a few more tricks up his sleeve.

"Well, well," Shadow said, "look who we have here."

"What are you doing here, Shadow?"

Shadow's eyes casually glanced around the city. "If I'm not mistaken, I'm destroying buildings. I'm possibly killing a few echidnas while I'm at it, as well."

Knuckles clenched his muscles tightly. Shadow wasn't even pretending to show any remorse whatsoever for his actions. Knuckles may have hated the echidnas who lived here, but that didn't mean they deserved to be slaughtered. "Okay, let me phrase that question differently: why did Eggman send you here?"

Shadow laughed to himself. "Who said this has anything to do with Dr Eggman? I do have a life outside of him, you know." Shadow shrugged. "Regardless, if you must know, the good doctor has asked me to do whatever is necessary to get the Master Emerald. Right now, my method seems to be working. I have you right where I want you. Now, hand over the Master Emerald, or I shall be forced to take it from you."

Knuckles raised his fists and scowled. "I'd like to see you try."

Shadow smirked. "Knuckles, don't you remember how easily I defeated you on the ARK?"

Knuckles remembered all too well. "You snuck up on me and knocked me out from behind. I hardly count that as a victory in your favour."

Shadow tossed the Chaos Emerald casually to himself. "I do what I need to do to win as quickly as possible. I could easily have defeated you in a fair fight if I'd wanted to. Why, Dr Eggman has told me that you couldn't even beat that faker of a blue hedgehog. If you couldn't beat him, how do you hope to last a minute against me?"

Knuckles' had been suppressing his growing rage all day, but that was simply too much. With a roar, Knuckles leapt straight at Shadow. Gliding, he closed the gap between them in a matter of seconds. Knuckles drew his fist back, preparing to hit Shadow with the strongest blow he could manage.

As Knuckles brought his fist forward, however, Shadow shouted, "Chaos Control!" Knuckles felt an intense energy as Shadow vanished in an instant, leaving no trace. Knuckles had a split second for his jaw to drop. Then, a blow to his back sent him hurtling towards the ground. His limp body smashed into the stonework of the town square where he had been questioned by Muscowequan.

As the dust cleared, Knuckles lay in the resulting crater. His eyes were closed as he tried to suppress the pain. Slowly he pushed his battered and bruised body off the ground. Knuckles gasped for air as he opened his eyes. All he saw were Shadow's eyes, staring at him at point-blank range.

The next thing Knuckles knew, Shadow had landed an uppercut on his chin, sending him off the ground. This was promptly followed by a roundhouse kick that sent Knuckles flying. He smashed through several buildings, causing Knuckles to scream at the sheer level of pain. Then, as he began to slow down, Knuckles felt that intense energy again. Then he felt Shadow send him flying back the way he came with another kick. While he didn't hit any buildings this time, the pain was still intense. The sensation of yet another burst of energy didn't help. Knuckles forced his eyes open, and saw Shadow standing in his path, preparing to land another blow. Knuckles didn't know if he could take another blow like the last two.

Luck was on Knuckles side, though, as Shadow was taken by surprise by a blow from Amy's hammer. The blow sent the black hedgehog flying away. In the next instant, Tails grabbed Knuckles' arms, stopping his deadly flight. Rotating his tails faster than Knuckles had even seen him do so, Tails propelled the pair into the air. Knuckles could see Amy running through the crowds in the streets below. No one tried to stop her. They were all too busy fleeing out of fear for their lives.

Then, Knuckles heard Shadow shout, "Chaos Spear!" from a rooftop. Knuckles felt yet another burst of energy. He was really starting to wonder what caused those. That was the least of his concerns, though, for as Knuckles turned his head around, he saw a large bolt of energy headed straight for him and Tails.

"Drop me!" Knuckles shouted. Tails didn't need to be told twice. He let go of Knuckles' arms, causing the echidna to drop towards the ground. At the same time, Tails ascended. An instant later, the bolt of energy shot through the gap where Knuckles and Tails had just been.

As Knuckles fell he repositioned his body, so as to land on his feet as he hit the ground. He did so, bending his legs as he hit the ground so as to lessen the impact. Knuckles began panting, and he could feel sweat dampening his fur. He was losing this battle, and he knew it. He had to get out of here. He was the one Shadow wanted. If he could get out of here in one piece, then he could lure Shadow away from the city. But then what could he do? Shadow seemed to be unbeatable. Knuckles frowned. He was going to need to sink to Shadow's level. It was time for a sneak attack.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Knuckles!" Shadow shouted, although fortunately from a considerable distance. "I'll find you, and I will take the Master Emerald!" As if to prove his point, Shadow fired off another Chaos Spear attack. Once again, Knuckles felt that same burst of energy. Why did he keep feeling this? "I'll level this entire city if that's what it takes to find you!"

That drove the point home to Knuckles. A sneak attack was not getting to get the job done in time. Shadow would destroy Nachide before Knuckles would be able to put such a plan into action. He would need to stop Shadow, and he needed to do it soon.

But what could he do? Shadow moved faster than the eye could see. Knuckles hadn't even known Sonic to move that fast. Then, in one instant, it hit him. Shadow wasn't moving that fast at all. Somehow, he was using the Chaos Emerald to teleport around the place. That's all that that "Chaos Control" thing was. Somehow, Knuckles could sense when Shadow was using this or Chaos Spear. That's what that strange energy was that he felt. Somehow, the Master Emerald must have granted him some sort of sixth sense that detected the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Certainly, it had helped him to find the shards of the Master Emerald on the two occasions that it had been shattered.

Knuckles tested his theory by closing his eyes. Sure enough, without any outside distractions, he could now pinpoint the exact location of the Chaos Emerald. Knuckles grinned. Now he had the edge. Knuckles could have simply used the Master Emerald to stop Shadow's Chaos Emerald, but that would do little to help. Shadow could probably beat him even without a Chaos Emerald. Ironically, that Chaos Emerald was probably the best help Knuckles was going to get.

Keeping his eyes closed, Knuckles walked towards the location of the Chaos Emerald. He had to feel his way along the walls, which slowed his progress somewhat. A few blasts of Chaos Spear from Shadow threw him off course a bit, but he eventually got close.

"So," Shadow said, "you're trying to fight me with your eyes closed?" Knuckles opened his eyes and saw Shadow standing at the far end of the street. Every building around him was in ruins, and there were a few echidna corpses strewn around the area. The large holes in their chest indicated that they'd been victims of Chaos Spear. "Still, I suppose your attacks couldn't wind up any further from the mark than your first one. What _were _you thinking, taking me on in such a rash fashion?"

Knuckles scowled. It was now or never. He charged straight at Shadow. The black hedgehog didn't move, and simply folded his arms across his chest. Knuckles didn't falter in his charge. He knew that he had to look like he was trying his same old "strategy."

Then, as he prepared to strike Shadow, Knuckles closed his eyes. Sure enough, Shadow shouted, "Chaos Control!" Once again, Knuckles felt that burst of energy. This time, though, he followed it with his mind, and he pinpointed Shadow's new position as being directly behind him. Knuckles twirled on the spot and aimed a mighty backhand blow at that exact point. It connected with a sickening crunch, and Knuckles could sense Shadow being flung away at high speed.

Knuckles opened his eyes and pursued Shadow. The black hedgehog skidded to a halt, ironically in the same crater Knuckles had created earlier. Shadow tried to speak, but coughed up blood as he did so. Knuckles must have hit him even harder than he thought he had.

Knuckles seized his chance. He leapt into a crater, and punched Shadow in the stomach. Shadow gasped for air, but Knuckles wasn't about to give him the chance. Knuckles began rapidly punching Shadow, being sure not to give the black hedgehog the slightest opening.

Unfortunately, Knuckles had forgotten to restrain Shadow's legs, and the black hedgehog kicked Knuckles in the back, sending him flying into the air. Knuckles regained control of his body, and landed safely on one of the few buildings in the area that hadn't been ruined. He looked back at the crater, expecting Shadow to leap out and attack him. What he found instead surprised him even more.

Male echidnas were pouring into the area, and each one attacked Shadow whenever they had the chance. Although Shadow could easily have beaten on them, he was heavily outnumbered, and he had to use all of his fighting ability to keep them from crushing him like a bug.

Still, Knuckles knew all too well that Shadow would eventually win, and if he did, then Knuckles wouldn't be able to beat him. As much as Knuckles hated to admit it, he was on his last legs, and there was no way he could beat Shadow in a fair fight now. Nor was it likely that Shadow would fall for the same trick Knuckles had just used to beat him to a standstill. Knuckles knew that he had to finish this now.

Knuckles pulled the Master Emerald out from under his glove, and let it grow to full size as he placed it on the roof. Then, Knuckles began to chant the poem that Tikal had apparently used to seal Chaos in the Master Emerald. "The Servers are the seven Chaos…" Knuckles said. Instantly, he could feel his energy starting to drain. Tikal had needed to sacrifice her body to do what she did. Knuckles hoped that he had more energy left in him than she had had that day. "Chaos is power; power is enriched by the heart…" Knuckles began panting heavily. "The Controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."

Before Knuckles could say anything more, though, he heard Shadow shout out, "Chaos Control!" The intense burst of energy was too much for Knuckles to take at that time. He cried out in pain as he collapsed. He blacked out before he hit the ground.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Knuckles, wake up!" a voice cried out. Knuckles opened his eyes, and saw Tails and Amy kneeling next to him. They both had worried expressions on their faces.

Frankly, Knuckles wasn't worried about his own state at the moment. He'd felt far worse after his fight with Eta than he did right now. Knuckles raised his right hand, holding it open. "Master Emerald…" he whispered. Much to his surprise, Knuckles saw two echidnas bring the Master Emerald towards him, holding it between them. They placed it in Knuckles' hand. He shrank it instantly and slipped it under his glove. In that instant, he began to feel the Master Emerald's energy flowing through him, for it could give energy as well as take it.

Knuckles closed his eyes again and focused his mind, scanning the area for Shadow's Chaos Emerald. He couldn't sense it anymore. That surely meant that Shadow had fled the area completely, for it would be folly for him to simply abandon a Chaos Emerald.

Knuckles rose to his feet. He swayed slightly as he did so, but he managed the feat. Unfortunately, it was at this point that he realised that he, Tails and Amy were surrounded by male echidnas. They must have climbed up onto the rooftop after Knuckles blacked out. Knuckles frowned. Now he was not only going to have to explain why he had come here, but also why a large portion of Nachide now lay in ruins. Knuckles sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, he had something else to say first. "Thanks for your help back there, guys," he said, not making eye contact with any of them. "If you hadn't come to help me out there, I would probably have been killed.

There was silence for a moment. Then, one of the male echidnas stepped towards Knuckles slightly. "How did you do that, with the big emerald?"

Knuckles scratched his head. Truthfully, he didn't know how to explain it. "It's a long story."

"And one that you should be telling us!" a familiar gruff voice exclaimed. The circle parted to let Muscowequan through. He walked with a young female echidna whom Knuckles didn't recognise. She had magenta fur, and wore a simple white gown. Knuckles could just make out a ladder behind the pair of them. That would explain how they all got up here. Muscowequan walked up to Knuckles. "Well, Knuckles, do you feel up to explaining what's going on now?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I do owe my life to your guards, so I suppose they deserve to know. Of course, you're not going to leave to allow me to tell them in private, so I suppose you have to hear as well."

Muscowequan gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his staff. "Very well."

Knuckles resisted the urge to grin. Muscowequan was so easy to anger. "Well, I suppose that I should start at the beginning. As most of you would know, my name's Knuckles. I'm the guardian of Angel Island and the Master Emerald."

There were a few murmurs amongst the crowd, but most of the echidnas had a blank expression on their face. The young female echidna, however, looked shocked to the bone. "Do you mean the emerald that can stop the Chaos Emeralds, the one that Tikal sealed Chaos in after he went berserk?"

Knuckles nodded. "The very same, but…"

Muscowequan interrupted him, shouting, "You brought the beast here?" Most of the male echidnas looked towards Knuckles' right glove and backed away slowly.

Knuckles raised his hands in an attempt to bring order. "Take it easy, will you? Let me finish." The crowd slowly began to calm down, until the silence was almost eerie. "As I was saying, Chaos, or 'the beast', was sealed in the Master Emerald millennia ago. However, he was released well over a year ago. He wreaked a large amount of destruction on one particular city far to the north, but fortunately he was defeated by someone I knew. Chaos has now vanished from this world." Knuckles knew better than to say where Chaos had gone. He hadn't shared the vision he had received from Tikal with anyone, and he had no intention to start now.

"Wait a minute, someone you _knew?_" Muscowequan asked with a raised eyebrow."What happened to him?"

Knuckles closed his eyes for a moment. He certainly didn't want to look back and see the expressions on his companions' faces. As Knuckles opened his eyes, he said, "He died a little over a year ago."

There were shocked expressions and assorted murmurs spread throughout the crowd of echidnas. "How could the one who defeated Chaos die so easily?" the young female echidna asked.

Knuckles' expression hardened. "Sonic, as he was called, was killed by Dr Eggman, the man who now rules most of the world."

Most of the echidnas looked down at the ground, as a sign of silent respect for someone whom, although they didn't know him, they recognised as a great hero. Muscowequan was unmoved. "Fascinating story there, Knuckles, but you still haven't explained who that black hedgehog was and why he came here tonight."

"That black hedgehog is called Shadow. I know nothing of his past or his motives. All I know is that he appeared shortly before Sonic's death, and was mistaken for him by many. Shadow allied himself with Dr Eggman, and was one of the key forces behind the fiend's rise to power. He's one of the deadliest beings I have ever come across. He shows no mercy, has abilities equal to Sonic's, and rarely lets his guard down." Knuckles hesitated for a moment. He knew how the next thing he had to say was going to be interpreted. "He came to take the Master Emerald from me. The Eclipse Cannon, the super weapon with which Eggman holds the entire world in check, is powered by Chaos Emeralds. Thus, the Master Emerald is the last real obstacle to Eggman having total control over the planet."

"I knew it!" Muscowequan shouted triumphantly. "That black hedgehog came here because of you! It is because of you that our city has taken such a heavy blow. It is because of you that echidnas lie dead in the streets!" Knuckles frowned. He'd been expecting such a reaction.

"Father!" the young female echidna cried out.

"Quiet, Rache-Lu! Out of everyone here, you should understand where I'm coming from the most. I told you what I saw in the stars last night. I saw a sign, a sign that one of our race, but an outsider, would come to the village. I saw that he would bring great death and destruction to our fair city, and send us back to the dark ages!" Once again, there were murmurs throughout the group. Knuckles was shocked by this revelation, but he took it with a grain of salt. He had never been one to believe in such ridiculous practices as astrology. Unfortunately, Muscowequan didn't seem to share that view.

"Father," Rache-Lu replied, "Knuckles risked his life fighting Shadow. He risked his life to save us!"

Knuckles was touched by Rache-Lu's defense of him, but he had no desire to continue this line of argument. "Rache-Lu, it's not necessary to defend me," Knuckles said calmly. "Your father's right in a sense. It was because I was in this city that Shadow attacked it. I would remind everyone, though, that I would not have been in the city when Shadow made his move if you hadn't been holding me and Tails prisoner. Regardless, you have more important things to worry about now."

Muscowequan glared at Knuckles suspiciously. "What do you mean?" he growled with the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

"I mean that, although Shadow has no interest in this city, he will almost certainly inform Eggman of its location. If Eggman does find out, he will attack this city. He hates any sign of resistance, however passive it may be. He will attack, and he will wipe out any of you who are still in the city."

There was silence, and every echidna on the roof stood agape at this shocking resolution. Much, to Knuckles' surprise, it was Tails who broke the silence. "You still have some time," he said calmly. "Eggman's not going to attack you with the Eclipse Cannon. Not only would it be blatant overkill, but it would probably destroy the Earth. It's a miracle the planet survived one shot; Eggman's not going to push his luck again now that he basically has control of the planet."

Knuckles nodded in agreement. "Tails is right, but you have to move fast. Eggman is probably going to send every robot he can spare to attack you, so as to wipe you out quickly. How long do you think it will take for the first wave to arrive here, Tails?"

"Let me think." Tails stared blankly into space, and stroked the fur on his chin. About a minute later, he stopped. "About three hours, given the isolated nature of this place. That gives you lot an hour to get away, if you don't want Eggman to catch you. I'd try and get out in half the time, just to be sure."

"You expect us to leave our homes in a mere thirty minutes?" Muscowequan gasped incredulously.

Knuckles shrugged. "That's what you have to do if you want to survive. I'd recommend heading to the south. Eggman has little or no presence down there. Find a secluded area, and lay very, very low there. Eggman will be looking for you, but after a while he'll lessen his search. We'll see to that."

"I've got a better idea: why don't we stay on Angel Island? After all, it's your fault we're in this mess, so you should be the one to get us out."

"Forget it," Knuckles stated flatly. "I've entrusted you with more information than you deserve. I'd die before I let you on Angel Island." There was silence for a moment, before Knuckles added, "I'd get going, if I were you."

The echidnas began to slowly file down the ladder and off the rooftop. Soon, Muscowequan was the only one left facing Knuckles and co. "May chaos haunt your every movement for the rest of your days," Muscowequan said. He spat in Knuckles' general direction. Fortunately, he missed completely.

Without saying anything more, Muscowequan left, leaving Knuckles, Tails and Amy alone on the rooftop.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

About half an hour later, Knuckles, Tails and Amy stood at the edge of Nachide, watching the long procession of echidnas leaving the city. They were headed south, as Knuckles had advised. No one quite knew where they were going to end up, or what would happen to them.

The procession trudged along slowly, their heads hung low and their backs hunched under the heavy burdens of what few items they could carry. Some carried supplies, but the items appeared to be mostly of a personal nature. No one carried the bodies of those who had been slain in the night. They were promptly buried, with some minor identifying marks to distinguish the graves from each other.

Still, Knuckles knew that there would be a need for more graves in the future. There were many elderly echidnas in the group, and they were clearly not cut out for travel. Some of the young children would also inevitably perish, whether due to the physical strain or to some unforeseeable catastrophe. Knuckles even spotted one female echidna who was heavily pregnant. There was no way that she and her baby were going to survive the horrible trek.

Knuckles had never seen a more forlorn group. Perhaps if he had been able to see the people in the earliest days of the Eggman Empire, he would have seen such a sight, but as it stood, he hadn't. The sight of these echidnas, abandoning everything they had worked so hard to achieve, saddened Knuckles, and part of him hated himself for feeling that way. This was the race that had condemned the world to horrors beyond count. It made little difference, though, for no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake that feeling of empathy.

As Knuckles thought on these matters, he noticed one echidna leave the group and run towards him. It was Rache-Lu, but she looked so different from before that Knuckles had trouble recognising her at first. Instead of the white dress she had worn before, she now wore an olive green tunic, with brown leather boots that went halfway up her shin. She had used some white bandages to tie up her dreadlocks into a ponytail, which altered her appearance somewhat. Rache-Lu had a bow slung over her shoulder, and a quiver of arrows tied to a belt around her hips. She had a large backpack on her back, and carried two books under her arm.

Rache-Lu soon reached Knuckles, Tails and Amy. "Hi, Knuckles," she said, panting as she did so. Then, she absentmindedly added on, "Tails, Amy."

"Hi, Rache-Lu," Knuckles replied. Tails and Amy nodded in acknowledgement.

Several long moments of silence endured. Then, to break the silence, Amy asked, "So, what's with the change in clothes?" She pointed at Rache-Lu's tunic as if to emphasise the point.

Rache-Lu looked down at her tunic. "Oh, this?" she questioned. "I do a bit of hunting in my spare time. You know, to get food for the village and all that. This is just what I wear when I'm doing that."

"That would explain the bow, I assume," Knuckles said. Rache-Lu nodded. "I find it hard to believe that your father would let you do that."

Rache-Lu glanced around awkwardly. "Well, it's a long story. To cut it short, he doesn't like me doing it, but he lets me."

Knuckles knew better than to enquire any further. Whatever issues Rache-Lu had with her father were none of Knuckles' business. "So, what did you come here for? I don't think you're arrogant enough to come here just to show off your hunting gear."

Rache-Lu hesitated for a moment. "Well, two things actually," she finally said. "First, you said that Dr Eggman's weapon, the Eclipse Cannon, was powered by Chaos Emeralds, didn't you?" Knuckles nodded. "Well, why don't you just use the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds? Then the Eclipse Cannon will be powerless, and Dr Eggman will lose his most powerful weapon."

Knuckles sighed. "Believe me, Rache-Lu, I tried doing just that when I saw that Eggman was about to fire the Eclipse Cannon at the Earth. But he's done something that prevented the Master Emerald from working there."

"You're half right, Knuckles," Tails added. "But Eggman didn't have enough time with the Eclipse Cannon to put in something that complicated. I think it would actually have been Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather and the creator of the Eclipse Cannon, who put the safeguard in place. He was quite famous in his time, and to pull off the sorts of breakthroughs he did in the study of the Chaos Emeralds, he had to do some research into the ancient Echidna Empire. You know, legends, stone tablets, murals, that sort of thing. Anyway, he would probably have found out about the Master Emerald that way, and been able to put together a safeguard around the Eclipse Cannon. Basically, the safeguard makes it impossible to deactivate the Chaos Emeralds in the Eclipse Cannon from long-range."

Knuckles had only been casually listening to what Tails had said, both because he already knew the gist of it and because he hated it when Tails contradicted him. "Regardless, the only way I'd be able to use the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds would be if I could get right to the Eclipse Cannon. Nowadays, that's pretty much impossible."

"Why is that?" Rache-Lu inquired.

"Two reasons. First, because Eggman has so many weapons and robots guarding it now that it's ridiculous. Second, because the Eclipse Cannon is up in space, and we don't have any means of getting up there."

"Space? You mean…" Rache-Lu pointed up at the sky. It was still night, so the stars were still visible. "…up there?"

Knuckles nodded. "That's right. The Eclipse Cannon is part of the Space Colony ARK. You might be able to see it some nights, for all I know. I stopped looking at the night sky after Eggman blew up half the moon with the Eclipse Cannon." Sure enough, Knuckles could see the half of the moon that remained right now.

"Oh, so that's how that happened. It caused quite a bit of panic around here when we first noticed it. My father and many others thought it was a sign of the apocalypse." Rache-Lu sighed. "I suppose, in a way, they were right."

Knuckles nodded vaguely. "So, what was the other thing you wanted?"

"I wanted to give you these books." Rache-Lu held out the two books she'd been carrying under her arm. They were dusty and a bit torn, but still in decent condition. "The first one's a guide to our script and language. You probably already know a bit of it, though, since there are probably a few inscriptions around Angel Island." That was true. Knuckles had noticed a few tablets dotted around Angel Island and, although he wasn't quite sure how he'd learned the script, he'd been able to read most of them. "Anyway," Rache-Lu continued, "that book's really just to help you read the second one, which is basically a history of our race." Seeing the frown on Knuckles' face, Rache-Lu added, "Look Knuckles, I know you have a loathing for our people, and I'm not trying to change that. I just think that maybe you should just learn a little bit more about us before you judge us too harshly." Rache-Lu held out the books, urging Knuckles to take them.

Knuckles was severely tempted to refuse to take them. It wasn't really any of her business what he thought, given that they'd probably never see each other again. Still, he knew better than to do that. Last night, Knuckles had made a plea to the Master Emerald: a plea for answers. Now, he was being offered something that could potentially contain the answers he was looking for. So, rather than let his pride take control, Knuckles gently took the books out of Rache-Lu's hands, and tucked them under his arm.

"How do you know so much about things like the Master Emerald anyway, Rache-Lu?" Knuckles asked. "No one else seemed to have a clue what I was talking about."

"Oh, I usually read when I'm not out hunting," Rache-Lu replied. "There are enough hints in various books for one to figure out these things. That one you're holding is a very good one, actually."

"Why do you do it? Frankly, it seems like a rather boring way to spend your time."

"Well, I find it interesting, regardless of what you think. Besides, only when we understand the past can we save the present and the future."

Knuckles nodded vaguely. It seemed to make some sense, even if he wasn't one who liked living in the past. Certainly, if these books contained the answers he was looking for, then what Rache-Lu had said would be true. "Well, I suppose, you'd better be off, then," Knuckles said. The procession of echidnas out of the city was nearly at its end. "You wouldn't want to be left behind now, would you?"

Rache-Lu didn't answer that question. Instead, she simply said, "Well, maybe we'll see each other again someday."

"I doubt it." Upon seeing Rache-Lu's downcast expression, Knuckles shrugged and added, "But you never know, it could happen."

Rache-Lu began to walk away. She had walked a few steps when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Turning around, she asked, "Knuckles, are there any other echidnas on Angel Island?"

"No," Knuckles replied with a shake of his head. "Should there be?" As far as he'd known, he'd been alone for most of his life. He certainly hadn't seen any signs of any recent large-scale echidna habitation of Angel Island. He couldn't explain how that meant he'd come into being, but he had learnt to deal with it, for the most part.

Suddenly, Rache-Lu seemed strangely distant. "No, of course not." With those words, she turned around and ran back to rejoin the procession of echidnas. The last echidnas were even now leaving the city. There was no sign of life left within. As the procession of echidnas passed out of sight, all that could be heard was the gentle whistling of the wind.

As Knuckles looked upon the now empty city of Nachide, he realised why the sight saddened him so much. Certainly, there was a sense of empathy with the echidnas, but that was only a small part of it. The bigger cause of his misery was guilt. Deep down, Knuckles knew that this was his fault. His search for answers had brought him here, and he had unwittingly brought Shadow with him. Because of that, because of him, the echidnas of Nachide had lost their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives.

As Knuckles gazed at the abandoned, ruined city of Nachide, he wondered whether answers could ever make up for the lives that had been lost and ruined because of him.


	4. Friend or Foe?

A/N: Well, here's the new chapter. It's a better update rate than before, and hopefully one I can get into. This and the next chapter were originally going to be one chapter, but then I decided that would be too long, so I divided it into two. I haven't written the next chapter yet, before you get your hopes up. With any luck, you can expect that some time next month.

With all that said, please read, enjoy and (hopefully) review! If you're looking to comment on something specific, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of the battle scene in this chapter, since it's the first time I've tried anything on anywhere near this scale. Thanks in advance.

**Chapter Three: Friend or Foe?**

_Our ancient ancestors were warriors without peer. They were unbeatable in one-on-one combat, and could hold their own even when severely outnumbered. This was a result of both their naturally superior bodies and the rigorous training they put themselves through. It was because of the ancient echidna's incredible martial prowess that their empire expanded so quickly and so far. _

_The greatest warriors amongst the ancient echidnas were those who were part of the Order of the Iron Claw. The order was so named because of the iron claws that each member wore on their fists. Not only did these claws add power to their blows, but they also proved quite effective in the rare instances when an echidna encountered a foe of martial prowess that was nearly equal to their own. These foes were, as was standard for the cowardice of their races, armed with weapons to improve their reach. Often, it was possible for them to attack without an echidna being in range for a counterattack. However, a member of the Order of the Iron Claw would be able to block the weapon with one iron claw, and then move in closer for a counterattack. Often, the opponent was so startled by this maneuver that they were slain within moments. _

_Alas, the great days of the Order of the Iron Claw are now long gone. It takes great skill and training to be able to wield iron claws effectively. Most individuals who simply tried to use them would only wind up causing harm to themselves. As a result of the fall of the Echidna Empire, our people have long since fallen from their former heights of martial prowess. To this day, no one has risen to rebuild the Order of the Iron Claw. _

Knuckles slammed the book shut. He'd had enough reading for today. Knuckles stretched as he rose to his feet. After a quick glance at the sunset, he started to walk down the steps of the shrine of the Master Emerald.

It had been a week since Knuckles had left the city of Nachide. The events of the time he spent there still haunted him. There were many aspects of that time that clouded his mind. Some were easier to explain than others. One thing that was very easy to explain was Knuckles' increased fear of Shadow. Although he doubted that Shadow was a significantly better fighter than Sonic without the aid of a Chaos Emerald, there was one key thing that made Shadow a deadlier foe. Sonic would simply beat any living foe and leave them there, but it was clear that Shadow was willing and able to kill. What's more, Shadow was actually looking for a fight with Knuckles, whereas Sonic had never done so.

Knuckles frowned as he thought on these matters. He knew that he would have to face Shadow again someday. Clearly, Shadow was the primary agent whom Eggman had set on him. Knuckles needed to find some way of defeating him. It was unlikely that Knuckles could use the same trick he had used against Shadow during their battle in Nachide. The black hedgehog wouldn't be stupid enough to bring a Chaos Emerald to their next duel. Knuckles would simply have to beat him the old-fashioned way.

Of course, Knuckles' thoughts were not focused solely on his next battle with Shadow. Knuckles still couldn't help thinking about his encounter with the echidnas of Nachide. As much as he tried to avoid it, he wondered where they were now, and what sort of condition they were in. He had tried to tear his focus away from the echidnas of the present by focusing on the echidnas of the past through reading the book Rache-Lu had given him, but that just made things worse. Still, there was one fact he'd gleaned from that book that he was eager to investigate further.

Finally, Knuckles reached the bottom of the steps. He wasted no time as he began to walk around the shrine in a clockwise direction. Knuckles counted the stones in the side of the shrine as he went around. When he reached the seventh stone in the third row, which was at eye level, he stopped.

Knuckles placed a hand on the stone, and pushed. The stone, along with the first two stones in every direction from it, receded into the wall, and slid to the side to reveal an entrance into the interior of the shrine. There was no light source inside, but the light from the Master Emerald above poured in through the holes and cracks in the stonework, providing a faint but usable light.

Knuckles took a deep breath, and walked inside. It was stuffy and cramped, and the air had the faint stench of magma, a scent that managed to travel all the way from the Lava Reef Zone and still remain noticeable. A thin layer of dust coated everything but the ceiling. Knuckles guessed that the Master Emerald gave off some sort of radiation that prevented the dust from spreading as far as there. There were some stairs on the far side of the room that went underground, and eventually led to the Hidden Palace Zone.

Knuckles' attention soon turned to the centre of the hidden room, where there were two identical pedestals. The one on Knuckle's right was unadorned, but on the one on his left, there were two metallic objects. Each object consisted of a hemispherical sheet of metal, with two metallic claws sticking out of one end of each. In short, they were iron claws, or, as Knuckles had grown to call them, the shovel claws.

Knuckles had first discovered the shovel claws about five years ago, when he'd been exploring Angel Island. Ironically, he'd actually gone the long way around, by going all the way through the Lava Reef Zone, the Hidden Palace Zone, and finally coming out in the room in which he now stood. He remembered silently cursing himself when he found out that the way out emerged at the shrine of the Master Emerald.

There had been two pairs of shovel claws at first. Unfortunately, Knuckles had taken one pair with him when he'd gone to the ARK that fateful day. Eggman had taken them away upon his victory, since there was the faint possibility that Knuckles may have been able to use them to tunnel out of his cell. Now, only one pair remained

Knuckles walked over to the left-hand podium and picked up the shovel claws. For a moment, he just gazed at them. Knuckles couldn't but notice that somehow, they had no dust on them. Perhaps there was more to the shovel claws than he thought. Knuckles decided not to think on the matter. He put the shovel claws on. Although they couldn't possibly have been made especially for him, they somehow managed to fit perfectly. They kept Knuckles' hands clenched into fists, but that was probably intentional. Strangely, Knuckles had noticed during his time in Nachide that all the other echidnas had fists the same size as his own. Perhaps all echidnas had fists of the same size, and that was why this pair of shovel claws managed to fit so well.

Knuckles shook his head. Scientific thoughts were best left to Tails. Knuckles turned around and walked towards the exit of the secret room. As he walked through the doorway, he poked the makeshift stone door, and it closed of its own accord behind his back. Knuckles had never quite figured out how whoever had built the shrine had managed to put such a device in place, but it didn't trouble him. That was one mystery that he had no real desire to know the answer to.

Knuckles noticed that the sun had now set, and the stars were appearing in the night sky. Of course, he knew better than to look up. The sight of the broken moon was depressing. Instead, he simply walked over to a wide open patch of grass, not far from the shrine. This was his training ground. He hadn't undergone any fighting practice in nearly a month, and Knuckles couldn't help but feel that it was only a matter of time before that began to show.

Knuckles took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Since he had never had a sparring partner, he had learnt to fight imaginary foes. Even as Knuckles' eyes closed, a battle began to form in his head.

_A large force of robots stood in front of Knuckles, E-1000s to be precise. They all had their guns aimed at him. Knuckles dived into a roll as they fired, and their shots all missed. He broke out of his roll at the foot of the front rank. He slashed at the legs of the robots on either side of him, snapping them effortlessly. The robots' torsos fell, their now-erratic shots taking out several more robots in the process. Knuckles paid this no mind, and rose to his feet, and started smashing his way through robot after robot. They all fell with ease before his punches, but the E-1000s were starting to regroup and encircle him. There were simply too many for his old approach to work. _

_Then, Knuckles realised that he didn't have to use his old approach. Now that he was armed with iron claws, he could fight with grace instead of just pure power. To test his theory, he leapt into the air and used the iron claws to slash the two nearest robots across the chest. They immediately started vibrating erratically. Knuckles ran away just before they exploded. He grinned at the thought of this newly found strategy. _

_Knuckles ran in an out of the group of E-1000s, destroying them with lightning speed. It wasn't long before all that remained was wreckage. Knuckles had won. _

Knuckles opened his eyes. It was clear that he still had what it took to take on groups of inferior foes. Unfortunately, what he was really worried about was his ability to win in a duel. Knuckles closed his eyes again, and prepared to enter the next stage of his training.

_A shadowy figure appeared before Knuckles. It was about his height, and clearly humanoid, but it was impossible to make out anything beyond that. Knuckles assumed a defensive stance, deciding to let his opponent make the first move. For a moment, both fighters were still. _

_Then, the opponent leapt at Knuckles. It launched a kick right at his head. Knuckles sidestepped, and aimed a punch at his opponent's defenseless form. Much to his surprise, the opponent maneuvered in midair with impossible agility. Before Knuckles could react, the shadowy creature had sent him flying with a kick at his midsection. _

_Knuckles somersaulted as he flew through the air, and managed to land on his feet. He was now a good distance away from his opponent. Knuckles flinched as he saw that his opponent was now flying with its newly sprouted wings. It rose high into the air, and then began to swoop. _

_Knuckles couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about this opponent, but there was no time to think about that now. Instead, Knuckles stood his ground, and stared at the rapidly approaching figure. He would have to time this just right. _

_Just before the opponent reached him, Knuckles leapt up into the air. As the figure passed under him, Knuckles summoned all his strength and kicked it in the back. The blow sent the figure careening into the ground, where it rolled several times before coming to a stop. _

_Knuckles knew better than to assume that that was the end of the fight. He was upon the opponent within moments. He used his left arm to hold it down, and held his right fist menacingly above its head. Knuckles took one moment to look at his opponent before he finished it off. _

_Knuckles gasped as he realised the identity of the figure that lay beneath him. It was a female bat. She had white fur on her face. She wore a black leather outfit, with white boots and gloves, and a pink, heart-shaped shirt. This opponent was none other than Rouge the Bat, the jewel thief who had stolen the Master Emerald nearly a year ago. _

Knuckles forced himself to open his eyes, in order to bring himself out of this trance. He panted as he was brought back to reality. As he rose to his feet, Knuckles shook his head a few times, but the image of Rouge lying prone beneath him wouldn't go away.

Knuckles had no idea why the imaginary opponent had taken the form of Rouge. Knuckles had barely given her a passing thought sine he'd finally gotten the Master Emerald back after his fight with her aboard the ARK. It was fortunate that he had saved her life that day, or the pieces of the Master Emerald that she'd possessed at that time would have been lost forever. Still, right now Knuckles wished that he'd shoved her into that pit of lava immediately afterwards, since she had been working for Eggman at the time.

Ever since that day, Knuckles couldn't remember having even a passing thought about Rouge. She just didn't seem particularly important to him when compared to all the other things that were going on. Still, Knuckles couldn't help but wonder what Rouge was doing nowadays. It was with mixed feelings that Knuckles soon realised that she was probably still working for Eggman. It was the only logical thing for her to do nowadays. Knuckles scowled and clenched his fists even tighter than the shovel claws forced him to. If he ever met Rouge again, then he would give her a sample of the hell he'd been through in the past year.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught Knuckles' attention. He turned his head slightly, and saw Tails running towards him. The young fox was using his tails like propellers to speed himself along, as he had done in the days when he used to run after Sonic. "Hey, Knuckles!" Tails yelled.

"Yeah, what is it, Tails?" Knuckles replied.

Tails screeched to a halt right in front of Knuckles. He stared at Knuckles' fists for a moment. "I thought Eggman took your shovel claws."

"Well, I found another pair," Knuckles growled. He had never told anyone about the secret room beneath the shrine of the Master Emerald, and he had no intention of starting now.

Tails shrugged. Knuckles knew that the fox knew better than to intrude into other people's business. "Anyway, I think I've found us a mission."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. He and Tails hadn't performed a generic mission since shortly before they'd rescued Amy. Knuckles had almost begun to think that they'd never get back into the swing of things. "What sort of mission?"

"Destroying one of Eggman's convoys. Come back to my workshop and I'll tell you more." With those words, Tails sped off in the direction of his workshop. Knuckles sprinted after him, barely managing to keep up. Tails' speed nowadays was comparable to Sonic's jogging speed, which was still ridiculously fast.

It wasn't long before Knuckles and Tails reached the fox's workshop. As they walked in, Knuckles noticed that Amy was standing near the computer, staring at the screen intently. Knuckles frowned. Although Amy appeared to have grown more reasonable since the events in Nachide, she was still prone to disagreeing with him.

Knuckles walked in Tails wake as they walked towards the computer. Knuckles' body was slouched in a vain attempt to avoid being noticed. Amy glanced in their direction, but said nothing.

Tails sat down in the chair in front of the computer and pressed a few buttons. A map of what appeared to be Central America appeared on the screen. Some of that area had been destroyed by the Eclipse Cannon along with North America, but most of it remained relatively undamaged. Eggman had been quick to put in measures to prevent the lava from the massive crater flowing into other areas. It was as close as he'd come to a humanitarian act.

Tails pressed another button, and a glowing red dot appeared on the southern edge of the landmass on the screen. "That dot represents the convoy, if you hadn't already realised." Knuckles hoped that that comment was directed at Amy, since Knuckles had planned more than enough assaults on convoys to know how one was represented on the computer.

"Do you have any idea how big it is?" Knuckles asked. He sincerely hoped it was small, but he had a bad feeling it wasn't.

"Well, sensors show approximately fifty cargo vehicles, which, at a guess, would mean a guard of about 200 E-1000s.

Knuckles' jaw dropped. He noticed that Amy was also agape at this large figure. Eggman had never displayed any desire nor need for forces that size. He had every army disbanded soon after he rose to power, and had every gun confiscated, in an attempt to eliminate any possible threat. The result was that no one could stand up to him, so he could get away with spreading his troops rather thinly in places. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Tails frowned. "Trust me, Knuckles, I'd like to, but that's what the sensors show."

"But why on earth would Eggman have a convoy that big in this area? Where are they going, anyway?"

"North-west, but probably with the intention of going north once the land allows them to."

"Why would they go there? There's nothing in that direction but Eclipse Crater." Seeing Amy's blank expression, Knuckles added, "That's what we call the crater where most of North America used to be." Amy nodded in recognition. Knuckles pondered the question of where the convoy could be going, but no answer came to mind.

"Tails, is Eggman building any new bases in that area?" Amy asked. "The convoy could be taking construction supplies." Knuckles and Tails stared blankly at her, amazed that she'd come up with that idea before they had. Tails then turned back to the computer screen and pressed a few buttons. The display zoomed out to show Eclipse Crater and the surrounding area.

Tails studied the display for a moment, and then said, "I'm not picking up anything like that on the scanner." He looked at the screen for a moment more. "Wait a minute. There seems to be an area the scanner can't penetrate."

"That could mean Eggman's trying to hide something," Knuckles muttered. "Where is it?"

"It's right around there." Tails pointed at an area near the western edge of Eclipse Crater.

"Isn't that around where Prison Island used to be?" Knuckles asked casually.

Tails was silent for a moment. "No, it's exactly where Prison Island used to be." Tails refused to make eye contact, as he kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

"What a weird coincidence," Amy said. She wasn't the only one with that opinion, as Knuckles found it very odd as well.

"Guys, I don't think it is a coincidence. I think there's something there that Eggman wants."

Knuckles and Amy were as close to laughter as it was really possible to be in this day and age. "Tails," Knuckles said, "Prison Island was destroyed by Eggman before he even fired the Eclipse Cannon. Anything there would have been destroyed twice."

Tails still seemed unconvinced. "Guys, Prison Island was where they locked up Gerald Robotnik. Everything he worked on, with the exception of the Eclipse Cannon, was probably kept there as well."

Knuckles shrugged. "So what? The guy may have been a genius, but even his stuff couldn't survive a blast from the Eclipse Cannon."

Tails still seemed unconvinced. "Look guys, I hope you're right, but that's the only reason I can think of for Eggman to put his base there."

"Maybe he just wants to look like a big shot by putting his new base right over what used to be the greatest military stronghold in the world," Amy said.

"Look guys, this isn't getting us anywhere," Knuckles interjected. "Why don't we just say that whatever Eggman's planning, it's big? What's important now is stopping that convoy. Tails, where are we anyway?"

Tails pressed a few more buttons, and the screen scrolled down to cover the northern area of South America. "We're around there," he said, pointing to an area in the ocean that covered the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.

"Do you think we can intercept them?" Truthfully, Knuckles had no idea how fast the Tornado 3 or Eggman's convoys moved.

Tails stroked his chin as he studied the computer display. "We should be able to, if we leave soon. Look, Knuckles, are you sure we should be doing this? That convoy's bigger than any we've ever attacked before."

"Yeah, I know that, but like I said, Eggman must be planning something. We can't assault the base he's building, but I think we can take this convoy on if we use our heads."

Tails turned to face Knuckles. "By that, you mean if I use my head, right?"

Knuckles nodded. "That's the plan. You do the majority of the thinking, and I do the majority of the fighting. It's a good arrangement."

Tails sighed and turned his head back towards the screen. "Well, let's see, we can obviously only afford to attack them piecemeal. That means we're going to need to make an ambush."

Even Knuckles knew that that was a statement of the obvious. "Is there any good terrain for it?"

Tails frowned. "Unfortunately, the only thing I can find that might work is quite close to Eclipse Crater." Tails pressed a few buttons, and the display zoomed in on an area around the bend of Mexico. "We've got what's basically a mountain range here. While they weren't exactly high and steep by regular standards before the Eclipse Cannon shot, they should be high enough to cause some problems now. In fact, the only area that's suitable for travel around there is pretty narrow and bordered by mountains on both sides."

Knuckles grinned slightly. "Perfect."

Tails shrugged. "It will have to do, I suppose. Like I said, it's cutting a little bit close. Eggman could easily send out reinforcements, especially if he is actually building a base in Eclipse Crater."

Knuckles' expression remained firm. "Well, it's a risk we'll have to take. We can't let those supplies get through. We'll just have to hit them hard and fast."

Tails no longer appeared to be paying any attention to Knuckles. Indeed, he appeared to be staring off into nothingness. As his gaze came back to reality, he had an eagerness in his eyes that Knuckles hadn't seen in quite a while. "Knuckles, I think I've got an idea."

Knuckles glanced at Amy awkwardly. Whenever Tails got that look in his eyes, it meant that any plan he was about to propose was unbelievably complicated. "Um, what is it?"

"Well, I just fixed the missile launchers on the Tornado 3, and I think I can put them to use here. If I fire a missile at a weak point on the mountains on either side of the valley, I should be able to cause a massive amount of boulders to fall down right into our not-so-little convoy. Not only will that cause a lot of damage, but it will hopefully make it impossible for the convoy to get through. Even E-1000s will have a tough time getting through. At worst, we'll cause a sizeable delay in Eggman's plans. What do you think?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, given that I don't have to change my fighting style, I think that it's a great plan. Just try and make sure none of those boulders crush me, will you?"

Tails shrugged. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. Anyway, I guess we'd better be going."

As Tails rose out of his chair, Knuckles took a deep breath. He then turned towards Amy. "Look, Amy, I know now that you can hold your own in a fight, but this mission's way too big to start you off on. Not only that, but we really need someone keeping an eye on the whole battle from here, just in case reinforcements show up. There's no way me and Tails are going to be keeping an eye on those things when we're in the middle of a battle."

Amy sighed, and nodded in a noncommittal manner. "Okay, then," she whispered.

Knuckles was silent for a moment. He didn't know why, but he felt a need to justify his choice further. "Look, Amy, I promise that as soon as a smaller mission pops up, I'll bring you along, okay?" Amy's eyes brightened slightly at these words, but she gave no response.

Knuckles turned and walked away, having satisfied whatever urge he had to pander to Amy's wishes. Suddenly, Tails grabbed him by the shoulder, causing Knuckles to stop in his tracks. He turned and around and saw Tails holding a communicator. "You'll need this, Knuckles," he said.

Knuckles raised his fists, so as to clearly display the shovel claws he wore. "Um, you know I can't exactly hold one of those while I've got these on, don't you?"

Tails shook his head. "You don't need to hold one of these anymore, Knuckles. I made a strap so you can just put it on you wrist." Tails turned the communicator around, revealing the strap. "This way, you won't have to sacrifice fighting ability to be able to communicate with us."

Knuckles nodded. "Nice work." Knuckles held out his right arm towards Tails. "Um, could you put it on? I don't want to have to take these off." Tails quickly obliged, strapping the communicator to Knuckles' right wrist.

With all their business sorted, Knuckles and Tails left the cabin. Knuckles had a brainwave, and stopped in his tracks, this time of his own accord. "You go get the Tornado 3 ready, I've just got to go get something," he said. Knuckles sprinted towards the shrine of the Master Emerald. He can't believe he'd nearly forgotten to take it with him. He was up the steps within moments.

Knuckles waste no time. He used his left to shovel claw to pry off the right one. Knuckles left the claw as it clattered to the ground. He grabbed the Master Emerald in one swift motion. It promptly shrunk, and Knuckles slipped it under his right glove, as he always did. Meanwhile, Angel Island had fallen the short distance into the ocean, splashing loudly as it did so.

With his work done, Knuckles sprinted towards the runway on the other side of Tails' workshop. The Tornado 3 was there, looking as resplendent as always. Tails always made sure that the plane was kept clean. Knuckles had never understood why he did that. Still, at the moment, he was glad that Tails did keep the Tornado 3 so clean, because the sight of such a magnificent machine lifted his spirits ever so slightly.

Tails was already seated in the pilot's seat. If the humming sound of the engine was anything to go by, he was ready to go. Knuckles leapt into the next seat back and strapped on his seatbelt. Tails always insisted on following the proper safety protocols. "You ready, Knuckles?" he asked.

"I sure am," Knuckles replied. Satisfied with that response, Tails pushed forward on the throttle. The miniature rockets on the side of the Tornado 3 activated, accelerating the plane at an incredible rate. Knuckles and Tails ignored the intense G-forces, as the plane roared down the runway.

As the Tornado 3 neared the end of the runway, Tails pulled back on the joystick. The plane ascended, and began to head towards its destination: battle.

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The journey passed all too slowly for Knuckles. He knew that Tails was making the Tornado 3 go as fast as it could, but even that seemed too slow to Knuckles. He had never been one who liked waiting for a battle – he vastly preferred to get it over and done with. Waiting for a battle only gave him time to think of everything that could possibly go wrong.

Eventually though, the Tornado 3 reached the mountain range that Tails had talked about. It looked rather puny compared to the mountains that Knuckles had seen before. Still, he knew that was what happened when man tried to play god.

Tails began to circle the Tornado 3 over a valley, which Knuckles presumed to be the one the fox had mentioned back on Angel Island. The only thing in the valley was dry soil. No plant life grew there at all. Knuckles found that incredibly odd, as it looked the terrain looked decent for plant growth. He presumed that Eggman had cleared it away to allow his convoys to move with greater ease, or perhaps radiation from Eclipse Crater had something to do with it. "Well, here we are," Tails said, stating the obvious.

Knuckles nodded. "You know the plan, don't you?" he asked.

"Knuckles, I made the plan. I'm more worried about whether or not you know the plan."

Knuckles shrugged. "Hey, I know what I've got to do, and I have a vague idea of what you're going to do. That's enough for me." Knuckles pressed a button on his communicator, a difficult feat while he was wearing his shovel claws, and began to speak. "Home base, this is Red Rad. Me and Fox Boy are about to deploy. Activate scanners and contact me when the enemy arrives."

"I hear you, Knuckles," Amy replied over the communicator. Knuckles cringed. "Scanners are activated. What's up with those nicknames, anyway?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "They're for security. Why don't you try and use them from now on? Over and out." Knuckles was grateful that there was no response. He really didn't feel like having another argument with Amy right now. "Everything sorted on your end, Tails?"

Tails glanced at the various displays in front of him, and then nodded. "I'm ready when you are, Knuckles."

"Okay, let's move out!" Knuckles hit a button on his seatbelt, and it loosened instantly. Knuckles shook the seatbelt off, and climbed onto the edge of the Tornado 3. He took a deep breath, and then leapt off. For a moment, he just fell, but Knuckles soon gained control of his descent, and began to glide towards what he believed to be the ideal ambush spot. It was shortly before the exit of the valley. Such a position would allow Tails to do a great deal of damage with his attack, while Knuckles knew that he would be about as safe as it was possible to be in the middle of a battle.

When he was nearly directly above his planned ambush point, Knuckles stopped gliding. He immediately began to fall. As he did so, Knuckles repositioned his body, so that he was falling headfirst. Then, he positioned his shovel claws so that they were below his head. Finally, Knuckles began to spin his body at an incredible speed, effectively turning him into a powerful drill. He closed as his eyes as he did this, to keep himself from becoming nauseated.

As Knuckles hit the ground, he formed a hole several metres deep. Knuckles stopped at that point. He opened his eyes. He could see the sky, but nothing else. Hopefully, Eggman's robots wouldn't notice his presence. Given that Eggman's cargo vehicles hovered several inches above the ground, they were unlikely to pay much attention to what essentially amounted to a pothole.

Knuckles held his communicator near his mouth. "This is Red Rad," he whispered. "I'm in position."

"This is Fox Boy," said Tails. "I'm just setting down on the other side of the mountain. I'm ready to strike whenever it's time."

For a moment, there was silence. Then, Amy said, "This is Amy – I mean home base. The convoy is near the southern entrance to the valley."

"Copy that," Knuckles replied. "Tell us if any reinforcements arrive, but keep quiet otherwise. Over and out." Thankfully, there was no reply on the other end. Knuckles could just make out the sound of what must have been the convoy approaching. Loud thuds could be heard to the south. Those must have belonged to the E-1000s. The valley was quite long, though, so it would be a while until it was time to attack. Knuckles twiddled his thumbs as he waited for the inevitable.

About five minutes later, Knuckles began to hear a faint humming sound amidst the thuds. The convoy must have been getting close. Knuckles tensed his muscles and looked up at the sky. For another minute, that was all he did. The noises grew louder.

Then, in one instant, a shadow was cast over Knuckles. The first cargo vehicle was directly overhead. Knuckles used all his strength to leap out of his makeshift burrow. He tore through the hull of the vehicle with a flying uppercut. He'd smashed his way through the roof before he could even see what was inside.

Knuckles landed on the roof of the vehicle, but only stayed there for a moment. He leapt off the box-shaped vehicle, just before it exploded. The force of the explosion sent Knuckles hurtling towards the near-vertical mountainside. He flipped in midair, and pushed off the makeshift wall. His target was the nearest E-1000. As Knuckles hurtled towards it, the robot opened fire on him. Acting on instinct, Knuckles used the shovel claws to deflect the bullets.

A split second later, Knuckles tore right through the E-1000. It exploded moments later. The other E-1000s had noticed the fight, though, and had begun to open fire on him. Knuckles back-flipped over the flaming wreckage of the cargo vehicle. As he flew through the air, he swung his fist in a wide arc, slicing through the head of an E-1000 like butter. The robot collapsed, disabled.

A loud boom resonated through the valley. Knuckles held himself rigid against the mountainside. He noticed that the E-1000s were no longer firing at him, and had instead turned their attention skyward. Knuckles dared to look up, even though he already knew what he was going to see. His suspicions were confirmed, as he saw massive boulders tumbling down one of the mountains. Another boom tore through the air, and this time Knuckles could see the explosion. Sure enough, it had been caused by a missile shot from the Tornado 3.

Knuckles grinned as he saw the chaos the boulders were causing. The E-1000s had no idea what to do. Some opened fire on the boulders, but their puny machine gun shots barely scratched the massive pieces of rock. Some tried to run, but they had no where to go. It didn't matter in the end, for the boulders smashed through them all. Whether they were E-1000s or cargo vehicles, none seemed able to survive the onslaught. Explosions tore through the valley, creating an impenetrable haze of smoke and flame.

For a moment, Knuckles dared to hope that the battle was won. That dream was shattered, however, when massive bursts of machine gun fire erupted from within the smoke. Knuckles threw himself against the ground. Bullets whizzed over his head. Those robots had no sense of aim, but neither did Knuckles in this haze. Still, he knew that the only way he could beat these robots was at close range. The problem was getting there without getting hit.

Then, Knuckles had a brain wave. He whirled his fists at an incredible speed, and with the help of the shovel claws, he was able to burrow under the ground. He only burrowed down a few metres, but he then began to move towards the location of what little remained of the force.

Unfortunately, the ground was not very stable, and as Knuckles began to tunnel his way through, the soil behind him collapse. He instantly saw the problem, and began to tunnel faster and faster. He pushed his body to the limit, and just managed to outrun the collapsing tunnel.

When he could take no more, Knuckles tore through the surface. Luck was on his side, as he managed to smash through an E-1000 in the process. The air was thick with smoke, and Knuckles could barely breathe. The smoke was clearing, but not fast enough. Knuckles could just make out the silhouettes of some E-1000s scattered about the area. He still couldn't tell for sure how many were left.

Knuckles coughed loudly as he began to choke on the fumes. It was too late when he realised his mistake. All the E-1000s in the area turned towards his locations and resumed their attack. Knuckles dove out of the way, narrowly dodging the massive stream of bullets. He held his breath as he darted through the wreckage. Knuckles tripped a few times on stray of bits of rock and metal, but he always pushed himself off the ground within seconds. He had to get away. There was no way he could fight in these conditions.

When the sound of the shots became distant, Knuckles collapsed. The smoke was far thinner down there, and it was nearly clear at that point anyway. Knuckles panted heavily as his lungs struggled to take in the clean air his body desperately needed. Finally, his breathing steadied. Knuckles didn't notice that the sound of machine-gun fire had died down.

"Knuckles, come in!" Amy shouted through the communicator.

Knuckles grimaced. Amy was a slow learner over many things. Knuckles turned his attention towards the communicator. "This is Red Rad," Knuckles wheezed. "What is it, home base?"

"I just picked up new energy signatures on the scanner."

"Oh no," Knuckles groaned. Although he'd been expecting reinforcements, he'd hoped that they wouldn't come until after he and Tails had made a getaway. "Okay, we'll leave immediately. What direction are these hunks of junk coming from, anyway?"

"Knuckles, they're in the valley right now! It's like they popped up out of nowhere!"

"What?" Knuckles shouted. He and Tails hadn't planned to counter something like that. "How is that -" Before Knuckles could finish his sentence, the communicator was blown to smithereens. Knuckles' eyes darted upwards, and he found himself staring straight down an E-1000's gun barrels. Knuckles glanced around. Much to his dismay, he found that he was completely surrounded by about twenty E-1000s. Nearly thirty more stood in a defensive formation around the area.

Knuckles slowly rose to his feet and held his arms up in the air. He knew he couldn't get out of this one easily. He was grossly outnumbered, even without those new reinforcements. Knuckles couldn't even see this latest batch of robots, which suggested to him that they were hiding in advantageous sniping positions. He knew that he would have to wait for the right moment to strike.

Suddenly, the circle of robots parted at one point. Another robot stepped into the gap, but this one was unlike any that Knuckles had ever seen. It stood a head taller than the others, and most of its body was concealed by a long, black cape, which stood up slightly behind its back. Its long, thin head was crimson in colour, and the eyes were just glowing green slits. Knuckles had a bad feeling that he was facing an E-100 robot.

"Drop your weapons," the robot said in a deep, cold, artificial voice.

"I can't exactly do that," Knuckles replied calmly. "My fists are my only weapons, and I can't just remove them." Knuckles sincerely hoped that he hadn't just given this force of robots the idea of removing his fists.

"That statement is incorrect. Those metal claws on your fist are weapons. Dispose of them at once."

Knuckles flinched. The shovel claws were probably his best bet of getting out of here alive. He couldn't just discard them. He needed to stall until he thought of a plan, or until Tails bailed him out again. "Are you an E-100 robot, by any chance?" Knuckles couldn't believe that he was attempting to start a conversation with a robot that looked ready to kill him, but it was the only way he could think of to buy time.

"That is correct. I am E-109 Kappa."

"E-109?" Knuckles asked before Kappa could continue. "What happened to E-107 and E-108?"

"Units Theta and Lambda have been destroyed. It matters not, as they, along with all units before me, were inferior models." Knuckles really didn't like the notion that this robot was tougher than Eta. Kappa must have had a glitch in its hard drive. There was no way it could be that tough when it didn't even have any weapons. "We know who you are, so the introductions are complete. Now, drop your weapons."

Knuckles knew he was out of options now. He slowly lowered his fists, hoping for some help to arrive. Then, Knuckles wedged the claws that extended from his right hand into the narrow gap between his left fist and its accompanying shovel claw. He took his time with the job, making it look far more difficult then it actually was.

Before Knuckles could do anything more, several E-1000s exploded. Knuckles looked up, and saw that blasts of energy were raining into the valley from seemingly every direction. "Destroy them!" Kappa shouted. "Leave the echidna to me!" The E-1000s scattered in every direction as they attempted to hunt down the enigmatic assailants. Knuckles didn't who they were, but right now, he was just glad that he only had to deal with Kappa.

"How do you intend to fight me without any weapons?" Knuckles questioned. It had been a while since he'd actually had any confidence going into a duel, but he was certain he could pull this one off.

Kappa didn't answer. Instead, it brought its right arm out from under the cloak. The arm was crimson, just like Kappa's head. It was thin, and almost skeletal in appearance. It didn't look like it could take much damage. Eggman must have been having some serious problems if that was the best robot he could find to lead this convoy. Kappa's arm reached towards the studs on its cape. In one swift motion, Kappa tore the cape off its body, and threw it aside.

Knuckles raised his right eyebrow as he saw that Kappa's entire body was as skeletal as its arms. He was almost ready to laugh. Knuckles doubted that Kappa could even take one blow from him. He raised his fists, and Kappa raised its arms in reply, but unlike Knuckles, its arms moved up past its head and over to its back. Knuckles noticed that there were two strange handles sticking out of Kappa's back. The robot grasped them, and yanked them out.

Knuckles gasped as he realised that Kappa now held a pair of four-foot long swords in its hands. Knuckles had limited knowledge of weaponry, but he was sure that they were katanas. The swords gleamed in the light cast by the ensuing melee that was erupting around two combatants.

Kappa swung the right sword at Knuckles left arm, and the left sword came down in an arc at Knuckles' head. Acting on instinct, Knuckles blocked both of the blows with his shovel claws. He began to push hard on the swords. He knew that if he didn't push them back, they would cut him to ribbons. Kappa refused to budge, though, and Knuckles found himself losing as his fists were slowly pushed closer to his body. He didn't know how Kappa got its strength, but he did know that he had to change tactics now, or he would die.

Knuckles fell back, and as he did so, the right sword passed harmlessly by. As he hit the ground, he rolled out of the way of the incoming left sword. Knuckles slashed at Kappa's leg. Kappa parried the blow with ease. Knuckles barely managed to block the counter attack. He leapt away from Kappa, just as the robot swung its swords in a move that would surely have severed both his arms.

Knuckles frowned as he stared at Kappa. He knew that he would have to press the attack if he was going to win this, but he also knew that that idea presented great risk. Nevertheless, Knuckles charged at Kappa. He roared as he launched a flurry of light blows. Kappa parried them all.

Knuckles stumbled as his foot hit a rock. Kappa swiped at Knuckles' legs, and he was forced to leap off the ground. Kappa used its other sword to strike at Knuckles in an overhead arc. Knuckles raised a shovel claw to block it. No sooner had he done this then Kappa's other sword came from below. Knuckles blocked this blow as well, but the result was that he was trapped between the two weapons. He wrapped his torso and legs up in a tight ball to prevent them from being cut off. As Kappa began to push with his swords, Knuckles could feel his arms gradually giving way. He was sweating at the strain, and he felt ready to scream.

When Knuckles could take no more, he dove out of the gap. As he fell Kappa launched a kick that connected with Knuckles' chin. The blow sent him flying into the mountainside. Knuckles hit the wall of rock with a loud thud, and tumbled down until he hit the ground. As he pushed his battered body off the ground, he saw Kappa walking towards him. The battle was still raging around them, but neither of them cared anymore. All they cared about was the duel.

Knuckles panted as Kappa walked towards him. The robot had more martial skill than any opponent he had ever faced. Where most had used pure firepower, this robot had a combination of strength, skill and speed that was both unexpected and seemed to be unbeatable. Every attack that Knuckles made was blocked and countered with greater force. Knuckles didn't know if he would win against such a foe, but there was no way he was going to run away. He knew that if he couldn't beat this foe, then he couldn't hope to defeat Shadow and Eggman.

Knuckles' thoughts turned to the book he had been reading mere hours ago. As much as he hated to admit it, his ancestors did truly appear to be warriors without peer. Yet sometimes, they hadn't shown superior martial abilities to their opponents. Instead, they had simply taken their opponent by surprise. They'd done it with iron claws, but that wouldn't work for Knuckles. Kappa seemed to know every professional fighting move in the book. Then, like a blow from the robot itself, the solution hit Knuckles. If he was going to win this battle, he would have to sink to the level of an amateur. It was time to do something so stupid that it couldn't possibly be in Kappa's databanks.

Kappa was about ten metres away. Knuckles shouted a battle cry, and charged straight at the robot. As he neared Kappa, he dived. Kappa placed a blade right in his path. Then, Knuckles smashed his right shovel claw into the blade, using it to support his entire body. He still possessed so much momentum from the charge that he moved right up the sword. Kappa brought its other katana down on top of Knuckles, but he swiftly blocked it with his left shovel claw. There was nothing that could stop Knuckles' path. As he reached the end of the swords, Knuckles aimed a double-footed kick straight at Kappa's head. He snapped it off effortlessly.

Knuckles fell to the ground. As he did so, he used his shovel claws to cut Kappa's arms. When Knuckles landed, he swung his fists in a wide arc, severing the robot's legs. Finally, he brought both of his fists together, and smashed Kappa's plummeting torso away.

Knuckles fell to his knees. His head sank, and he closed his eyes as he panted. He still couldn't believe that he had performed that maneuver, or that it had worked. He would definitely have to commit it to memory. Knuckles had no idea how Kappa had possessed such skill, strength and agility, but he was certain that Eggman would design more robots with those qualities.

"Knuckles?" said a voice that Knuckles hadn't heard in over a year, but that was all too familiar to him. Knuckles opened his eyes and lifted his head. Sure enough, he found himself staring into the eyes of Rouge. She seemed surprised to see him, but only in a pleasant way. "Long time no see. What are you doing here, anyway?"

Knuckles gritted his teeth as he stood up. His fists were clenched so tightly that he could swear his palms were oozing blood. In an instant, every moment of suffering Knuckles had experienced in the past year flashed before his eyes. In an instant, all his anger burst out, as Knuckles pounded Rouge in the side of the head. Her limp form sailed through the air.

Knuckles turned and began to run after his prey. He could have killed her with one blow from his shovel claws, but he didn't want to. No, Knuckles wanted to make her feel even a fraction of the pain he had felt because of her. As he pursued Rouge, the unseen assailants from before opened fire upon him. He dodged their shots with ease, and he barely needed to slow down. He didn't stop to think about why they were shooting at him. As Knuckles let out a primal roar, it was clear that he wasn't thinking at all anymore, or at least that his only thoughts were of revenge.

When Knuckles reached Rouge, he found her lying against the charred remains of one of Eggman's cargo vehicles. Knuckles wasted no time, and aimed a punch straight at her midsection. A loud clang resounded as Rouge blocked the blow with her steel-tipped boot. Knuckles threw a punch with his other fist, but this was blocked, too. Knuckles pushed with all his might, and Rouge's legs began to buckle under the strain.

Still, this was too slow for Knuckles. His rage needed to be satisfied soon. Knuckles leapt off the ground. His feet landed on Rouge's boots. They fell into the ground under the weight. The force sent the rest of Rouge's body flying up towards Knuckles. He blocked it his right shovel claw, and placed the left against her back. In his unstoppable rage, he began to dig into the flesh of her back, but he didn't notice anymore. He just stared into her terrified blue eyes.

Knuckles drew his right fist back. He grinned maniacally. He had waited a long time for this. Knuckles' mind told his fist to move forward, to end this now, but something held him back. He forced himself to relive every moment of agony he had experienced in the last year, and to remember that Rouge was one of those responsible for that pain. "This…" Knuckles panted, "is… for… all… the… pain… you…caused…"

Once more, Knuckles tried to bring his fist forward, but he still couldn't do it. This time, though, it was a physical force that held him back. Knuckles turned his head towards his fist, and saw that someone else was holding his arm back. He knew he could overcome the strength of the figure, but part of him didn't want to.

The figure looked humanoid, but it wore a full suit of camouflaged combat armour. It was relatively lightweight, but all the vital organs appeared to be protected by metal plates. The figure's face was covered by the helmet's visor, so it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

At that instant, Knuckles felt the unmistakable sensation of a gun poking him in the back. It only felt like a pistol, but even those were deadly at pointblank range. Knuckles remained perfectly still, for he knew that even the slightest movement could be seen as a threat. These people, whom he assumed to be the same ones who had attacked the E-1000s earlier, were still a relatively unknown quantity to him. They certainly weren't on Eggman's side, but that didn't mean that they were on Knuckles' side, either.

"Alright, hot stuff," said a masculine voice from behind Knuckles, "why don't you just calm down and release her?"

Knuckles' jaw dropped. "You would just let one of Eggman's agents escape?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's working for Eggman!" Knuckles shouted, his anger boiling over once again. "Can't you tell?"

"That's what this is about?" Rouge asked incredulously. Knuckles turned his head to face Rouge. She had leant forward, away from his shovel claw, and was currently rubbing her back. When she brought her glove between them, it was smeared with blood. "Well, that probably explains a bit. I just thought that you were still mad at me for stealing that stinking emerald of yours."

"Oh believe me, I am," Knuckles growled. "But you more or less made up for that, so it's hardly worth killing you over. But if there's one thing I hate more than a jewel thief, it's someone who works for Eggman."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "How dumb are you, anyway?" Knuckles gritted his teeth. "You want to know why I was working for Eggman back then? I was spying on him! I'm a government agent, or at least I used to be. We don't exactly have any use for spies nowadays. It's impossible for us to get inside Eggman's operations, since he only uses robots and Shadow nowadays. I'd still be on the inside, though, if my position hadn't been… compromised."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that Shadow found out I was a spy."

Knuckles nodded. That certainly would explain why Rouge was no longer working for Eggman. "Okay, that explains a few things. But why didn't you stop Eggman? You just let him go around blowing up military bases and getting Chaos Emeralds!"

Rouge frowned. "I wasn't just trying to find out about Eggman's plans. I was also trying to find out about Shadow. Since I was able to tell GUN about the attack, they were able to perform an evacuation and keep casualties to a minimum. Apart from a few people who got lost amidst the chaos, the only one who died was the pilot of one of GUN's mechs. Unfortunately, it was necessary in order to have me trapped in a safe. We needed to know whether Shadow could use Chaos Control. It turns out that he can. Trust me, though, I didn't like what I had to do any more than you."

"But there had to be a way you could have stopped Eggman!"

"You think I didn't try?" Rouge shouted. "I originally planned to take the Chaos Emeralds from him at the last minute, but when Shadow found out I was a spy, there was no way I could get away with that. If it hadn't been for the fact that Shadow hadn't had to go hunt you down, I probably would have been killed. As it stands, I survived."

Knuckles scowled. "This is ridiculous. Do you honestly mean to tell me that there was nothing you could have done to stop this disaster, or at least lessen its impact?"

Now it was Rouge's turn to scowl. "There was one thing I did do, Knuckles." Seeing Knuckles' blank expression, Rouge added, "Did you ever think it was odd that the generator on the ARK just happened to break down?"

Knuckles jaw dropped, and he shook his head in disbelief. "No, you couldn't have done that."

Rouge rose to her feet. "Well, I did. I had to hide for three months on the ARK. I had to live off leftover scraps of food from Eggman. I had to avoid Shadow's steps at every turn. If he had wanted to capture me, he would have, I think. Beats me why he didn't. One night I managed to get to the ARK's generator, shut it down, and make my escape. I knew you'd managed to escape when I spotted the wanted sign with your picture on it a few months later." Rouge seized Knuckles' arm. "Now, come on, you're leaving with us, before Eggman sends reinforcements. Sergeant, get the speeders ready."

"Yes, ma'am," said a voice from behind Knuckles.

"Wait!" Knuckles shouted. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you're doing here, who these guys are, what you found out about Shadow and generally what the hell is going on."

Rouge groaned. "Look, all I can tell you is that these guys are part of what remains of GUN, and we came here to attack Eggman's convoy. If you want to know anything else, you've got to come with us." Rouge looked around. "Now where's that fox boy friend of yours? If you're coming, he'd better come too."

"My name's Tails, and I'm right here," said a voice. Knuckles turned around, and saw Tails about twenty metres away, walking towards them in the Cyclone. "Can someone tell me what's going on here?"

Rouge and the GUN soldiers all turned towards Knuckles. He was silent for a moment. Truthfully, this was one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make. He knew he shouldn't just trust a strange group that he had only just met, especially when that group contained Rouge. Still, they appeared to know valuable information, and Knuckles couldn't just let that information slip through his fingers.

Finally, Knuckles managed to whisper, "It looks like we've found a new ally."


	5. The Underground Resistance

A.N: Yeah, I think I've given up on trying to explain the ridiculous gap between my updates. If you're still reading this, then you've probably accepted that problem, and I thank you for it.

Be sure to read the author's note at the end, but only after you've read the chapter itself. The author's note contains a little bit of explanation regarding one character, as well as a small teaser of what's going to happen in Chapter 5.

So, please read, enjoy, and, if at all possible, review.

**Chapter 4: The Underground Resistance**

The sleek GUN speeder craft sped through the mountain range. Only a low hum could be heard from the vehicle's engines. Its plain brown design enabled it to blend into the bleak mountainside. The speeder's interior was completely covered by the armour, although it didn't provide much protection.

The victors of the recent combat were inside the vehicle. The GUN soldiers sat in the hard seats, remaining as disciplined as ever. Rouge sat near the cockpit to keep an eye on things. The two seats in the cockpit were taken up by the speeder's pilot and Tails, who had taken a keen interest in all of GUN's technology.

"So what sort of speeds can this craft reach?" Tails asked, analysing the complicated console that controlled the vehicle. His face had more enthusiasm on it than it had in a long time.

"Two hundred to three hundred kilometres per hour if we push it, depending on the terrain," the pilot replied in a thick Asian accent. He somehow managed to keep up the conversation without taking his eyes off the terrain in front of him. "It's faster than any of Eggman's ground forces, but from what I've heard, it's not as fast as some of the company you've had in the past."

Tails' enthusiasm vanished in an instant. He gazed off into empty space. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Sorry. I spoke without thinking there."

Tails shook his head. "No, it wasn't your fault." There was silence for a moment, before Tails added, "Is it hard to pilot this vehicle?"

The pilot shrugged. "It's not that hard." He looked towards Tails. "Fancy a go?"

"Naka," Rouge interjected before Tails could reply, "the kid doesn't even know which way we're supposed to be going."

Naka turned back towards Rouge. "Sorry, ma'am."

Rouge casually folded her arms across her chest. "Mind you, I'm not exactly sure if you know which way we're supposed to be going, either, since you're about to crash into a mountain."

Naka instantly turned back towards the front and performed a hard right turn. The speeder missed the mountain wall by only a few metres. Most of the passengers felt a mild lurch due to the sudden change in velocity. Fortunately, their seatbelts saved them from any real harm. Knuckles, on the other hand, who had been standing up at the back of the craft, was sent flying into a wall. He grimaced as he hit the wall with a thud.

"Great piloting, guys," Knuckles groaned as he regained his balance.

"Well, you wouldn't have had a problem if you just sat down and buckled up like we told you to," Rouge replied without turning back.

Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "I like to be behind those who I don't trust. It keeps them from stabbing me in the back."

"Well, that's the most ungrateful thing I've ever heard!" She held up two fingers in Knuckles' general direction. "Are you forgetting that I've saved your life twice now, when you've only saved mine once?"

Knuckles pointed a shovel claw at Rouge. "Look, every time you ever helped me out, it's benefited you at the same time. I don't owe you anything."

"You mean it didn't benefit you when you saved the Master Emerald as well as me?"

Knuckles flinched. After he regained his composure, he added, "My point is that neither of us owe each other anything." With those words, the conversation stopped for a few minutes. It was only when Knuckles glanced towards the cockpit that he realised that they were still in the mountain range. "How long is it going to take us to get out of these mountains, anyway?"

"A bloody long time, since we're not heading out of the mountains," Rouge replied. "Our base is inside them."

Knuckles closed his eyes and put a hand to his face. "Let me get this straight – the base of this top-secret resistance movement is right next to Eclipse Crater, Eggman's most secure territory. Mind if I ask why you'd do something so stupid?"

Rouge turned her head around so that half of it faced Knuckles. "Well, you clearly didn't expect it to be there. Given that our base is still in one piece, neither does Eggman."

Knuckles was left to ponder those words in silence. He couldn't help but wonder what he had gotten himself into. Here he was, with a group he didn't know, led by someone he didn't trust, all because they had information on someone who was trying to kill him. They were headed deep into Eggman's territory, because apparently that was the place where they would be safest from him. Knuckles shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had once found it a complicated matter to decide which of Sonic or Eggman was his real foe. Mere survival was a complicated matter nowadays.

The rest of the journey passed without incident. Tails occasionally asked more questions about the technology of the speeder, which Naka seemed almost too happy to answer. Knuckles couldn't believe that some people gave out their trust so easily. He didn't absorb most of the conversation, since it was largely jargon to him. He did take note of the fact that the craft carried a small payload of missiles and a few pulse cannons on the roof, but that was all.

After what seemed like an eternity to Knuckles, Naka finally said, "We're nearing the base, ma'am."

Rouge nodded. "Good. Stop outside the entrance and open a channel." Knuckles stumbled slightly as the vehicle slowed to a stop. Rouge stood up and walked into the cockpit. She pressed a button on the console. "This is Rouge reporting. Mission successful, and E-109 Kappa has been destroyed. Tell the general that I need a meeting with him right away. Transferring password now." Rouge tapped a dozen buttons in quick succession.

Knuckles glanced towards the cockpit. Nothing had happened. All he could see in front of them was sheer rock-face. Then, without warning, the speeder rocketed towards the mountain. Knuckles was flung into the wall again, and pinned to it. No one seemed to notice that they were about to crash. "Look out!" Knuckles shouted, but it was too late. The sheer wall filled the vision through the cockpit. Knuckles shut his eyes tight and braced for impact.

It was an impact that never came. The craft kept on moving, and eventually stopped, but much more slowly than Knuckles had expected. He collapsed to the ground, and panted as he did so. He had not breathed at all during that incredibly long moment. After he had taken a moment to ease his rattled nerves, Knuckles opened his eyes.

Rouge, Tails and the others all stood in front of him. Tails appeared to be trying not to laugh. Rouge simply rolled her eyes. "You know," she said, "maybe you should listen in on your friend's conversations. If you had, you'd know that the entrance to our base is hidden in the side of the mountain behind a projected image."

Knuckles rose to his feet. "Better yet," he growled, "you could have told me that earlier and saved me from a heart attack."

"It's not like it would have been any use, since you never listen to me anyway."

"Yes, but then you'd have been entitled to be even angrier at him than you are now," Tails said. Knuckles and Rouge both glared at him, and he backed away sheepishly.

"Anyway," Rouge said, "can someone open the doors? It's way too crowded in here, what with the extra passengers and the kid's bloody great transforming plane in the cargo bay." Tails opened his mouth as if to say something, but after another glare form Rouge, he shut it again.

One of the soldiers from the group moved over to a control panel near the door, and pressed a few buttons in quick succession. The doors slid open with a hiss, but Knuckles didn't bother to look at what was on the other side. Instead, he merely looked towards the rest of the group, and said, "After you." He folded his arms across his chest. This was made rather difficult by the fact that the shovel claws were still on his fists. After the group had passed him by, Knuckles followed them. He raised his fists and looked around as he exited the craft.

The room that Knuckles and the others now stood in was quite unlike anything he had ever seen. It was a massive hangar bay that stretched out beyond sight. Vehicles of every description were parked along its walls: speeders like the one Knuckles had just been in; small, sleek fighters; bulky tanks and; massive vehicles with drills on them, presumably for tunneling; and many more. Knuckles tried to avoid letting his jaw drop at the sheer power that GUN possessed, and failed miserably. Tails looked as if he had died and gone to heaven.

Rouge showed none of their enthusiasm. Instead, she simply waved her hand around vaguely and said, "Welcome to GUN headquarters."

Knuckles' head swept around in a slow arc as his mind took in what he was seeing. "If you've got all these weapons, why haven't you whooped Eggman's hide yet?" he asked.

Rouge shrugged. "Well, while Eggman may not have much in the way of an army for conquering the few remaining pockets of resistance, the security systems in his territory are beyond compare. He can knock out any large-scale attack before it even reaches his bases. Well, that and we have a severe shortage of people to actually operate this stuff. It's taken us months just to ship it all over from around the world."

"You mean there are more bases like this around the world?" Tails asked, though his eyes were fixated on a nearby fighter craft.

Rouge shook her head. "I wish. If that was the case, we would have taken the fight to Eggman by now. No, as it stands this is the only large base. We've got some other smaller bases in areas of high activity, but they're really just for scouting."

Tails whipped his head around to face Rouge. "Really? Hey, what's your scanning equipment like anyway?"

Knuckles brought his left shovel claw down the metal wall of the hangar. The others covered their ears as a loud screech reverberated through the area. After a few seconds, Knuckles stopped. Everyone in the hangar glared at him, including the few servicemen who were working on nearby vehicles. Rouge shook her head as she rubbed her large but tender ears. "Look, I didn't come here to talk about scanners," Knuckles growled. "I came here to get some answers on Shadow and this whole situation, and I will get them."

"Sheesh," Rouge whispered, "I'd heard that hedgehog friend of yours was impatient, but I had no idea it extended to you."

Knuckles could feel his muscles becoming tenser by the second. "Yeah, well being on the run from a mad scientist dictator and his powerful but insane hedgehog cohort would probably do that to anyone. Now tell me what's going on before I forget that we're technically on the same side."

"Yeah, well, I'm not authorised to give out that information. You'll have to talk to the General if you want to find that out."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "What sort of jewel thief cares about authority, anyway?"

Rouge frowned. "One who's been run out of work by a mad scientist dictator and his powerful but insane hedgehog cohort. Now are you coming or not? Because if you're not, then you might as well just leave right now."

Knuckles was about to reply, but Tails interrupted him by whispering, "Uh-oh." Knuckles and Rouge turned towards him. The young fox stood there agape, his eyes staring at nothing in particular.

"Tails," Knuckles groaned, "you know I don't like it when you do that. It always means that you've always come to some really, really bad realisation."

"Well, you're right, Knuckles," Tails replied, "because I've completely forgotten to contact Amy since we met these guys. A stray shot during the battle busted the Tornado 3's communications system, and I'd forgotten to turn on my portable communicator."

Knuckles shook his head, hoping that Tails would say he was joking. There was no such response. Knuckles whipped around to face Rouge. "You know what? It would be my pleasure to meet the General. In fact, let's go right now." Knuckles pointed a shovel claw in Tails' general direction, narrowly missing a GUN soldier in the process. "Tails, you can contact Amy."

Rouge smirked at Knuckles, who would have scowled at her in any other situation for that. Instead, he simply nodded rapidly. "Alright then," Rouge said. "Naka, you show the kid around after he's been grilled. Answer any questions he asks to the best of your knowledge." Naka saluted, and promptly led Tails away. "The rest of you, come with me." Rouge walked away, and Knuckles and the GUN soldiers followed a short distance behind.

Knuckles increased his stride to catch up to Rouge. "So, you've got no problem with some guy telling Tails anything he wants to know, but when I want to know something, you set this General guy on me?"

"Naka doesn't know anything of any real strategic importance," Rouge replied, "so it doesn't really matter what he tells the kid."

"Oh, and here I was thinking that it was because you didn't trust me."

Rouge turned her head towards Knuckles and scowled. "Well, would you trust someone who recently tried to kill you?" Rouge had just reached the main exit out of the hangar. The door hissed open as she approached, and they all walked through into the corridor beyond. The walls of the corridor were made of bare but smooth stone, with no additional structural support.

Knuckles returned the scowl. "Yeah, well maybe if you'd told me at some point that you were a government agent, I wouldn't have done that."

Rouge flung her arms out sideways. "What, you think I could have told you that a year ago without blowing my cover? And today, you attacked me before I even had a chance to tell you anything!"

Knuckles pointed his ironclad fist right at Rouge's heart, and erratically waved his other arm around. "Why couldn't you have told me? According to you, we were on the same freaking side! If you had told me, then we could have joined forces. We could have beaten Eggman, and stopped the whole world from falling under his rule! We could have saved millions of innocent people!"

Rouge put her hand on her hips. "Oh yes, because you're so great at seeing the bigger picture," she said sarcastically. "You didn't go and put one stupid gem ahead of the wellbeing of the entire world."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. Even now, he could feel the Master Emerald's energy flowing through his right hand, and it almost seemed as if its energy caused his muscles to tense. "It's not a stupid gem, it's the Master Emerald," he growled. "It's currently the one chance I can see of beating Eggman. I thought you would have realised its power when you stole it. Or were you too busy being Eggman's lackey?"

The ground cracked as Rouge smashed her foot into it. "Look, just shut up!" she shouted. Knuckles recoiled in shock. Even he had never seen her so mad. "I gave you back that stupid emerald, and that should have ended your hatred of me. Now you've started thinking that I wanted Eggman to take over the world or something!" Knuckles stepped back until he was pressed against the wall. Rouge advanced on him, and jabbed one of her fingers into Knuckles' chest. "I was only doing my job! I never expected him to succeed! I never expected to have to fear that Eggman could find this place and kill me any day! I never wanted any of that!" For the first time, Knuckles saw tears in Rouge's eyes. "So stop reminding me of the worst mistake of my life, and stop thinking that I'm the sole reason for every problem in your life!"

With those words, Rouge stormed off. A moment later, she turned around a corner, leaving Knuckles and the GUN soldiers in her wake. The still silence reminded Knuckles all too well of what he thought it would be like to die. He'd had that feeling before, when his wounds in his battle with Eta had taken their toll, but this was even worse. The tightness in his chest was slowly suffocating him, and it was only by focusing on his breathing that the feeling dulled at all.

After a moment, the GUN soldiers walked past Knuckles. A couple of them glanced at him as they passed. Although Knuckles couldn't see their faces behind the visors, he could vaguely imagine the stunned expressions that must have lain beneath. As the soldiers turned the corner to follow Rouge, Knuckles ran after them. He caught up to them within moments, but stayed behind the rest of the group. Rouge was only a little over ten metres ahead now, but it seemed like miles to Knuckles, and right now, that was the way he preferred things.

As the group walked through the maze of corridors, Knuckles couldn't help but notice the people whose heads were poking out of doorways all around them. Knuckles hunched over in an attempt to blend in, but he knew it was hopeless. Any attempt at keeping a low profile had died along with Rouge's patience.

Knuckles sighed. He had no idea how he got into these messes. It seemed that he couldn't even set foot in a place without something going horribly wrong. If it had been anyone but himself, he might have found it mildly amusing, but as it stood, it only made him feel cursed. It seemed as if he was doomed to be forever picking up the pieces, but never even rebuilding what he had destroyed.

After a few minutes, Knuckles found Rouge standing on a bare elevator platform. The troops walked onto the platform, and Knuckles followed. He made sure to stand as far away from Rouge as possible, but even that was too close for comfort. Rouge looked at no one, but simply closed her eyes as the elevator began to descend. The tears had caused her mascara to stain her face.

It was a short ride, and it wasn't long before Knuckles felt his stomach lurch as the elevator stopped. Knuckles looked away from the elevator. This area was quite unlike the higher floor. The corridor that led away from the elevator appeared to have been simply hewn out of the stone in a very haphazard manner. The only artificial items that could be found were the light-emitting tubes on the wall, but even they seemed to have been designed to resemble old-fashioned torches.

Rouge trudged down the corridor, and Knuckles and the soldiers followed, still being sure to keep at a distance. The corridor twisted and turned like a corkscrew. There were several points when the paths split off into two. Knuckles wanted to know what could possibly lie down the other paths, but he knew that following Rouge was his top priority.

Eventually, Knuckles and his companions reached a reinforced metal door at the end of the tunnel. It looked entirely out of place in the sheer stone wall. Rouge walked up to a small computer console next to the door, and pressed the only button on the interface.

"State your clearance," said a deep and raspy voice that seemed to come from all around the group. Knuckles glanced around in an attempt to find its origin, but no sign of any communications equipment yielded itself. No one else in the group seemed at all fazed by this omnipotent voice.

Rouge sighed and vaguely rolled her eyes. "General, this is Rouge," she replied. "I've brought him."

Knuckles flinched. He had no idea how the GUN General could possibly know who he was, especially through such a vague message. Knuckles' mind darted to suspicions of a trap, but found nothing. They could have easily killed him earlier if they'd wanted to, or simply left him to die at the hands of the E-1000s. Nor was there any apparent reason for them to want him eliminated. Every explanation just raised more questions.

Knuckles glanced back at the GUN soldiers, but their weapons were lowered. His eyes darted all over the tunnel, and he raised his ironclad fists. He would be ready for anything. At that moment, the door opened with a hiss. The room on the other-side was nearly pitch-black. Only a small amount of light from the tunnel penetrated the absolute darkness within.

Rouge nodded vaguely towards the room. Knuckles took a deep breath, and walked towards the entrance. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he didn't know why. He was accustomed to danger. It had become his lifeblood. Part of him knew, however, that what he had always feared and would always fear was the unknown.

As Knuckles dragged his back foot into the room, the doors snapped shut in an instant, leaving Knuckles completely blind to his mysterious tormentor. At that instant, though, lights all around the room flashed on, blinding Knuckles. He tried to back away, but found only cold, hard steel behind him.

A gunshot broke the silence. Reflex took over Knuckles' mind. His left hand stretched away from his body in an instant. Knuckles flicked his wrist, and a loud clang rang out. A fraction of a second later, there was a dull thud.

Knuckles squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. Gradually, a shadowy image came into view. Knuckles could just make out the silhouette of a person sitting behind a desk with a pistol in his hand. There was a bullet-shaped hole in the wall, mere inches from the side of his head. Knuckles moved to charge, but felt an all-too familiar sensation of being held back.

Knuckles head whirled to his right, and as his sight became clearer, he saw the unmistakable form of Rouge there, holding his arm in her two gloved hands. Knuckles had no idea how Rouge had managed to sneak in behind him, but he knew it was part of her job to perform the impossible. As Rouge let go of Knuckles' arm, she whispered, "Don't worry, he does that to everybody. He wouldn't have hit you."

Knuckles' head darted toward the figure behind the desk. He could now see that the figure was an elderly man. He wore typical military attire, although there were none of the medals that Knuckles had been led to believe decorated such men. His build was surprisingly muscular for a man of his age, as if those body parts had not aged at all. What had clearly aged, though, was the man's face. Wrinkles covered it, and his grey hair was a disheveled mess. Knuckles was most shocked, however, by the man's eyes. They were barely visible amidst the deep recesses in his skull that served as sockets. The man's entire expression was grim.

"Indeed, Rouge is correct," the man said in that same deep and raspy voice that Knuckles had heard before. "It's a little test I designed to test the characters of those who enter my chambers. Quite simply, I believe that a person – or animal's – true colours are best shown when they are faced with what they believe to be certain death. In those instances, a true warrior will accept his fate, and stand firm, but a coward will try to flee, and will die without honour."

Knuckles crossed his arms across his chest, and managed a weak smirk. "So, what do you think of me, then?" he asked.

The man put the pistol down on the bare wooden desk. "In all honesty, I've never seen anyone respond in the way you did. It seems that you hold onto your life, but not so much that you would give up your honour for it. You prefer to fight than flee. In the end, though, you seem to be uncertain of what to do with your life." Knuckles stared at the man incredulously. "But enough with the psychology. Please, come closer."

Knuckles walked towards the desk. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his mind was on the lookout for even the slightest movement or sound. When Knuckles reached the desk, the man extended his hand towards him. "General Michael Stuart," the man said in a stern but welcoming tone, "Commander-in-Chief of GUN."

Knuckles' smirk turned into a frown, but otherwise, he remained motionless. "Knuckles the Echidna," he replied, "and I'm just your average nutter who sometimes thinks he can change the world." Michael's hand didn't move. "Oh, and sorry about my rudeness, but the last man I shook hands with currently rules the world."

"Then I would consider it a blessing to shake hands with you. Still, as you wish." Michael moved his hand back to his side of the desk. "Regardless of what you think, though, I would never call you average."

"Yeah, but I've known the best and worst creatures in my time, and compared to them, I'm nothing. You'd be hard pressed to find something that surprises me any more. Still, I find it weird that a big shot general like yourself doesn't have a million and one flashy medals to your name." Knuckles waved his hand at Michael in order to emphasise his point.

Michael frowned, and his entire face seemed to twist up into something resembled a caricature of evil. He picked up his pistol, and began to stroke it idly. "Oh, I've got the medals," he whispered. "Token ones, of course. I was never respected or trusted enough to get anything more. I daresay the only reason they ever promoted me was to keep an eye on me." Michael grinned, and Knuckles could swear that he saw the faintest gleam in the general's eyes. "Ironically, it saved my life, but that's another story for another time. For you, I will simply say that I have no pride in my roots, and thus have no desire to showcase them to whoever needs to meet with me."

Knuckles' eyes narrowed. He had never been good at seeing good or evil in a person, but Michael was even more of an enigma to him than any other. "So, now that we're finished with the pleasantries, why don't you tell me how you knew I was coming?"

Michael instantly snapped out of his trance. With a bemused look on his face, he put his pistol back down on the desk. After a few seconds, he regained his composure. "Ah, yes, that's one question that's very easy to answer. My agents had seen the wanted posters of you and your friend Miles Prower around various cities. When news of this reached me, it was clear that you were fighting against Eggman, and must have been particularly tough foes to beat, given the size of the reward offered. Thus, I knew it was only a matter of time before our two groups came into contact." Michael's face almost beamed. "By the way, how is Miles doing? I'm assuming he's around here, as well, of course."

It was a few moments before Knuckles managed to respond. He couldn't believe that he was talking to one man. "Um, he's here, and he's alright. Well, as alright as anyone can be nowadays."

Michael grinned. Once again, Knuckles saw that sinister gleam in the General's eyes. "Yes, all the pieces are coming into place."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "The pieces are coming into place? For what?"

Michael leant towards Knuckles. "Why, for the end of this war. With your power added to our own, we can finally defeat Eggman once and for all."

Knuckles raised his hands and shook his head. "Hold on, I never said anything about helping you."

Michael's composure wavered. He rose from his chair, and towered over Knuckles. "Why would you turn down this chance, Knuckles? Don't you want to defeat Eggman? Why won't you accept our aid?"

Knuckles' composure was faultless. "Because you're not the ones who are going to defeat Eggman."

Michael laughed mockingly. "And you are?"

Knuckles' expression remained stern but resolute. "If anyone is going to defeat Eggman, then yeah, it's going to be me. The only way we can hope to beat Eggman is to deactivate the Eclipse Cannon. Only the Master Emerald can do that."

"Ah yes, the fabled Master Emerald." Michael scowled. "Hand it over, Knuckles. We know you have it on you, and we need it."

Knuckles scowled back. "Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." Michael's hand flashed towards his pistol. Knuckles leapt onto the desk. Michael raised the pistol and took aim. Before he could pull the trigger, Knuckles slashed at the weapon with his ironclad left fist. The barrel of the pistol was instantly cut off. Knuckles pressed his right shovel claw against Michael's neck.

"Stop!" Rouge yelled. Knuckles slowly turned his head around to face her. "How dumb are you two, anyway? You're on the same side, and yet you still go around trying to kill each other!"

Knuckles turned back and glared at Michael. "He threatened to take the Master Emerald," Knuckles growled. "I can't just stand by and let that happen."

"Yeah, well I am not going to let our one chance for victory slip through my fingers," Michael whispered. He remained as still as a corpse.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Hmm, have you ever thought of a compromise?"

If the situation hadn't been so tense, Knuckles might have laughed at the notion of trying to negotiate with his insane captive. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Ditto," Michael said.

Rouge gritted her teeth. "I swear that you two are the most ridiculous pair of idiots I have ever seen." She sighed. "Well, let's look at this way. Knuckles, you want to get rid of Eggman, don't you?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, the day's going to come when it will be either him or me lying dead on the ground, and I have no intention of it being me."

"Right, so why then are you trying to kill the leader of the group that's done the most damage against the Eggman Empire to date?" After a moment of hesitation, Knuckles silently lowered his fists. "I didn't think you'd have an answer, possibly because there isn't a good one. Now, _General,_ did you actually read that report I gave you on the Master Emerald when I first got here?"

Michael shook his head. "Frankly, I was more concerned about your report on Shadow at the time," he said. "You should have told me any vital information contained in your report about the Master Emerald."

"Oh, heaven forbid that I thought you'd do your job!" Rouge exclaimed. "Anyway, if you'd actually read the report, you would have seen that I'd commented that it didn't seem possible for any old person to use the Master Emerald. That would appear to be a privilege reserved for its guardian, who happens to be Knuckles." Knuckles smirked. "Do you see what I'm getting at here? If you kill Knuckles, the Master Emerald's useless. Not only that, but I think we owe Knuckles one, since he was the one who defeated Kappa."

"Um, not to bring down my own defense," Knuckles interjected, "but what's so great about defeating that bucket of bolts? I mean you could have just blasted him."

Rouge glanced at Knuckles. "You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Kappa was our toughest foe to date. In the mission before the one you interrupted, he killed an entire squad almost single-handedly."

Knuckles jaw dropped. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Rouge shook her head. "We're involved in a war that's uglier than any the world has ever faced, and unfortunately, we're the underdogs. Eggman outnumbers us, and his best soldiers can outfight our best. And that," Rouge turned to Michael again, "is another reason why we've got to keep Knuckles alive. He defeated an E-100 unit without any help. No one in our army has been able to do that yet."

Knuckles knew better than to bring up his defeat at Eta's hands. As much as he hated to admit it, his fate currently hung on whether or not a madman thought that Knuckles was a saviour. For what seemed like minutes but was only seconds, Michael stood rigid. Finally, he sank back into his chair. "Very well, Rouge, your point is well made." He turned to face Knuckles. "I believe we can officially call a truce, then?"

"That sounds fair," Knuckles replied. He leapt off the desk, and faced Michael from the opposite side. "Well, now that we're allies of sorts, what information do you have on Shadow?"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he's trying to kill me." Knuckles barely knew why he bothered to mention it, for it seemed that just about everyone wanted to kill him nowadays, even those who were on his side.

Michael stared down at his desk, and for a second, he smiled, but it was a weak mockery of a true smile at best. "Ah yes, well I suppose I should give you the information, then. I can't have anything unfortunate happening to you now, can I?" There was a faint flicker of an evil grin on Michael's lips, but it vanished in an instant. He frowned, and his features seemed to turn to stone as he looked up at Knuckles. For the first time, Knuckles truly saw Michael's eyes. Hidden deep within the sockets were a pair blue eyes; their warm brightness seemed to defy the cold dark of his exterior. Michael leaned forward so that his eyes were only a foot away from Knuckles'. "But you must first understand that what I'm about to tell you is absolutely confidential. Not a single word of it is to leave this room. Do you understand?" Knuckles nodded. "Right then, what do you want to know?"

Knuckles held up his right hand purely out of instinct. "I want to know who made him, his history, his abilities, the reason he's working for Eggman and how I'm supposed to kill him before he kills me." It was only when he'd finished saying that that he realised that he couldn't hold up any of his fingers to display his point.

Michael scratched his head. "Well, the first two I can answer fairly easily, but the others are a little bit trickier. Shadow was created as part of a top-secret military project headed by Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather."

"That's the same guy who invented the Eclipse Cannon," Knuckles remarked, more to himself than to anyone else. He was pleasantly surprised that he remembered that, since Gerald's name tended to precede some sort of long scientific rant from Tails that Knuckles inevitably forgot.

Michael nodded. "Correct, and we believe that it was Shadow who led Eggman to the Eclipse Cannon, since it's the only way the various dates fall into place. Anyway, Project Shadow was designed to find the secret to immortality, as part of creating the ultimate military weapon. The plan was to create a creature who would wipe out enemy armies single-handedly."

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest. "Now Shadow can wipe out your army single-handedly," he replied with a weak grin.

Michael glared at Knuckles. "I wouldn't go that far. As I was saying, though, Gerald's research was proving successful, until some other research projects broke loose on the ARK, where Gerald and Shadow resided at that time. The decision was made by GUN to shut down the facility. Shadow escaped, but we were able to hunt him down eventually and put him into stasis. We took heavy casualties to do it. If he'd had a Chaos Emerald at the time, I don't think we'd have been able to stop him. As it stands, I still believe that the only reason Shadow was stopped was because he'd given up on life."

"Why would he have given up on life?" Knuckles questioned.

Michael sighed. "Have you ever heard Shadow mention a girl called Maria?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I might have done, but I was paying far more attention to his death threats and random boasting."

Michael leant back in his chair. "That's probably for the best. If Shadow had told you about Maria, I don't think you'd have the heart to kill him."

Knuckles vaguely waved his hand around. "I'm guessing you're not going to tell me either."

Michael shook his head. "As Commander-in-Chief of GUN, I feel it is my duty to tell you the information you need to know, even if it's confidential. However, the information you're asking for is private, which is another matter altogether. As a man, I cannot tell you."

"Fair enough. I still hate your guts for not telling me, though."

"I'm sure you do. Anyway, Eggman released Shadow over a year ago, and Miles would probably have told you the rest as he heard it from Sonic."

Knuckles frowned. "Oh yeah, he told me that alright, but it wasn't pleasant to hear."

Michael nodded. "I'm sure it wasn't. Getting back to your questions, though, I'm afraid we're largely as stumped as you are regarding most of them. We don't know why Shadow's helping Eggman. It's possible that he feels some sort of loyalty towards Eggman, since he's Gerald's grandson, but we don't know. To put things in terms you'd understand, Shadow has all of Sonic's abilities, and then some."

"I know, I saw them. Chaos Control and Chaos Spear." The memory of those abilities still haunted Knuckles' mind, but he was quite sure that Shadow wouldn't be in a hurry to use those against him again, given that they hadn't solved anything in their last battle.

"That's right. It seems that he needs a Chaos Emerald to use those abilities, but he doesn't exactly have a problem getting one of those nowadays. As to how you're supposed to kill him, that's something you'll have to figure out by yourself. Frankly, I don't even want you to."

Knuckles slammed his fists down on the table, cracking it. "What, are you nuts or something?" he cried incredulously. "If Shadow isn't killed, he'll wipe us all out."

Michael didn't even flinch at Knuckles' outburst. "I don't think so. I can't tell you why, but I believe that Shadow's loyalty to Eggman is fleeting at best. I think that if I could just talk with Shadow, then I could turn him to our side."

Knuckles crossed his arms across his chest again. "What, you could just turn a bloodthirsty maniac into a good guy with one conversation?"

"Not exactly. He would kill me, but that would be all."

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"Alright, run this past me again," Knuckles said as he loaded a large case onto the GUN speeder craft. "Why are you giving us all this stuff?"

As Knuckles stepped out of the speeder and into the hangar, Rouge closed the door behind him. "Well, just because you're not working for us, doesn't mean that the General doesn't want you to succeed in beating Eggman your way," she replied. "All this stuff is supposed to help you do that." Rouge swiped the sweat from her face. "Besides, it's not as if we're using it, anyway."

Knuckles pointed towards the speeder. "So Tails knows how all the stuff in there works, right?"

"Knuckles, he knows how to use the stuff better than I do, and he's only been here a few hours."

Knuckles shrugged. "Yeah, well that's Tails for you. Hey, where is he, anyway?"

"Right here, Knuckles!" said a voice from behind Knuckles. He turned around to see Tails headed towards him in the Cyclone. "Check it out! I just upgraded the Tornado 3! It's now got a deflector shield generator, pulse cannons, a mini nuclear fusion reactor, a fully operational autopilot and hydrogen-fueled supersonic thrusters."

Knuckles resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "That's great Tails, now could you translate that into English?"

Tails rubbed the back of his neck, and laughed sheepishly. "Well, basically it means it's better than ever."

"Now that's something I can understand."

"Yeah, unfortunately, there's one little catch: the pulse cannons can only be fueled by Chaos Drives."

Knuckles stared blankly at Tails. Rouge rolled her eyes and whispered, "Were you paying any attention to what the General was saying after your little talk about Shadow?"

"I was for a little bit," Knuckles replied, "but then it all fell into a sea of military gibberish."

"Well, if you'd been paying attention, you would have heard the General talking about Chaos Drives. Basically, they contain excess energy harnessed from the Chaos Emeralds. They're a highly efficient energy source, but without Chaos Emeralds, they're in strictly limited supply. Don't worry, we put a year's supply of the stuff on the speeder, so you've got no problem."

"So does Eggman have access to this stuff?"

"Well obviously, since he has the Chaos Emeralds. The E-1000s and E-100s are powered by Chaos Drives. That said, he doesn't seem to have figured out how to use them to their full effect yet, since his robots still use bullets."

Knuckles unconsciously rubbed his left thigh, where the fur had nearly grown back to cover the scar he bore there. "Yeah, well bullets can still do plenty of damage."

"Yeah, I know. I've been shot once myself."

Knuckles nodded, but said nothing. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle hum of machinery. Finally, Knuckles managed to say, "Tails, could you get onto the ship? I just need to have a word with Rouge."

Tails looked from Knuckles to Rouge and back again, shrugged his shoulders, and moved the Cyclone towards the speeder. After a few moments, the door to the speeder closed behind Tails as he entered the craft. As the clanks died down, silence resumed its reign over the hangar. This time, it was Rouge who broke the silence. "So, to what do I owe this great pleasure?" she said sarcastically.

Knuckles resisted the urge to grit his teeth by reminding himself of why he was doing this. He sighed, and stared at the floor. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you. I was an insensitive bastard, and didn't look at the situation from your point of view. So, I'm sorry."

Rouge shrugged. "Oh, alright then."

Knuckles looked up at her. "That's it?"

"Well, what did you expect?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I don't know, isn't the other person supposed to say something here? I don't exactly make a habit of apologising to people, you know."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Look, anyone can say they're sorry. It's another thing entirely for them to actually avoid hurting someone again." Rouge turned around, and began to stride away from Knuckles and into the heart of the base. "Get on the ship when you're ready. There's a few things I've got to sort out."

"Come on, give me a break!" Knuckles shouted. "You must have been yelled at by other people tons of times! Why is it such a big deal when I do it?" There was no response. Rouge didn't even turn back. Knuckles wanted to do something, say something more, but his whole body seemed paralysed, though he had no idea why.

For a long time, Knuckles just stood there, staring at nothing. Nor was there anyone else to look at him. It was as if some greater force had frozen his hopelessness in time for all to see, but no one cared to learn from his mistakes. Finally, Knuckles growled, turned his head away, and walked towards the speeder. Knuckles pressed the button on the side of the door, and it opened. He walked on, unconsciously stamping his feet as he did so.

Knuckles stormed past Tails, who had just finished bolting the Tornado 3 to the underside of the speeder. He barely registered Tails' anxious stare. Knuckles proceeded into the passenger area, and slammed himself down onto one of the seats. Knuckles closed his eyes, and rested his head on his right fist, narrowly avoiding the shovel claw.

Knuckles' mind dimly registered the sound of light footsteps, followed by a voice asking, "Are you alright, Knuckles?" He instantly recognised the voice as Tails'.

"Take a guess," Knuckles groaned. He otherwise remained motionless.

"I'm guessing you're not."

Knuckles nodded. "Good to see there's someone here with common sense."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you know anything about women."

"All I know is that, if they're all like Amy, then they're all prone to random bouts of insanity."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the impression I got. By the way, how was Amy?

"Well, she says she's going to kill you when you get back."

Knuckles opened his eyes, and glared at Tails. "Did you tell her my communicator got busted? You were the one who had one to use, so why isn't she going to kill you?"

Tails shrugged. "Apparently she doesn't believe in picking on people younger than her."

"Lucky you."

At that moment, Knuckles heard a sound behind him. He lazily turned his head around and found Rouge standing there with a platoon of GUN soldiers. Rouge glanced at Knuckles for a moment, but swiftly turned her attention to Tails. "We're ready to go," she said. "Is your bloody great transforming plane secure?"

Tails nodded. "I'm always ready fast."

"Right, then let's get going." Rouge walked towards the front of the speeder, while the soldiers sat down in the seats. Knuckles found himself flanked by two of them before he even knew what was going on. He stared at Tails, hoping that he'd provide a solution. Tails just shrugged and walked towards the cockpit, where he sat next to Naka, who had already taken his place in the pilot's seat.

Rouge sat down in her chair and fastened her seatbelt. "Oh, can all idiots on this ship make sure that they're strapped in tightly?" she asked. "Naka's said this is going to be a bumpy ride because of all the cargo." Knuckles glared at her, but given that she had her back to him, this didn't accomplish anything. Knuckles strapped his seatbelt on and leant back in his chair. As he folded his arms across his chest, he closed his eyes.

Knuckles barely noticed as the speeder's engines roared to life. It was only the faint shifting of his stomach that told him that they had lifted off. That suited him, as right now he just wished he could disappear. He'd once known a chameleon called Espio who could do that. Knuckles tried not to remind himself of the fact that Espio might have died at some point since their last meeting. Knuckles had quite enough morbid thoughts without that one to add to his list.

Slowly, Knuckles' mind drifted from thought to thought: thoughts of how to defeat Shadow; thoughts of what Amy would do to him when he got back; and thoughts of Rouge. The last one would have surprised him, if he'd been awake to absorb it.

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Knuckles awoke into what could only be described as chaos. Vibrations shook the speeder every few seconds, as the GUN soldiers loaded their weapons. Rouge shouted a string of orders that Knuckles didn't absorb in his tired state. "Don't tell me we're under attack," he groaned.

"Alright, I won't tell you," Rouge replied as she walked into the cockpit. "Naka, full thrusters, emergency maneuvers."

Knuckles felt his stomach lurch again. A loud explosion shook the ship. Knuckles' seat tore away from its supports, knocking him to the ground. Knuckles tore his seat belt off and pushed the seat away from him. Red lights flashed all around. Sirens wailed. "We're losing power to the starboard thrusters!" Naka shouted.

Knuckles rose to his feet. "Okay, how screwed are we?" he asked.

"Very," Rouge muttered. "We've got a small squad of some sort of fighter craft that I've never seen before on our tail. Must be some new invention of Eggman's. I recognise one signal, though. There's an E-100 leading them: E-110 Lambda."

"Well, shoot it out of the sky!" Knuckles yelled.

Rouge's head snapped back to face Knuckles. With a scowl, she said, "You think we haven't tried that? We hardly have any weapons, and what we've got can't even hit Lambda. It's got something that's jamming the locking system for the missiles, and blocking our pulse cannon shots."

Knuckles frowned. He knew what had to be done. "Where's Tails?"

"I'm in the back room," Tails replied, "and I'm way ahead of you, Knuckles." Knuckles dashed through the room into the back room. The Tornado 3 was there, and Tails was in the pilot's seat. As Knuckles leapt into the back seat, Tails flipped a switch, and the engine roared to life.

"Open the back door."

Rouge flew into the room and hovered beside Knuckles. She pointed at him and said sternly, "You are not launching this thing now. You'd leave the entire ship open to attack if you did."

Knuckles slammed his fists on the outside of the Tornado 3, denting it. "Yeah, well all that means is that we'll die slightly quicker! We're taking off if we have to blast the door off to do it."

Another explosion rocked the speeder, and a faint hiss could just be heard beneath the sirens. Rouge sighed. "Okay, you can do it." She flew back into the main room. "Everyone, hold on tight. Naka, open the back door."

The back door slowly slid open, and immediately, debris flew out into the open air. As the door opened wider, bullets made their way in, rupturing the floor. "Shields up," Tails said as he flipped a switch. A faint blue bubble spread over the Tornado 3. A few stray bullets were vapourised upon the shield.

As the door reached its maximum opening, Tails thrust the throttle forward. A loud boom resounded. Knuckles was flung back into his seat as the Tornado 3 launched out into the battle. As Knuckles regained his bearings, he saw six ships that were little more than giant arrowheads flying in the sky. They were zipping around the GUN speeder, slowly blasting through vital bits of armour with their bullets.

Tails flew behind one of them, and opened fire. Spheres of white energy burst out from the Tornado 3's guns and zipped towards the fighter. Before they could hit, they fizzled into thin air.

"Rouge forgot to tell us that that shield's protecting the fighters, too!" Tails shouted. "These pulse cannons are useless against them!" Knuckles craned his head skyward, and found the culprit: E-110 Lambda. Its purple body was shaped like a giant metal eagle, and it soared over the battle like one.

"Couldn't we take out Lambda instead, to bring the shield down?" Knuckles asked. He tried to ignore the sweat trickling down his body.

"Lambda's protected by the shield!" Tails swung the Tornado 3 in a wide arc around the battle, which was turning into a massacre. The speeder was barely floating over the ground, and it was doing so almost on its side. Fire was beginning to erupt at the rear. "No energy attacks can get through, and our missile are useless without a lock-on!"

"Why don't you just shoot it down with bullets?"

Tails was silent for a moment. "I sort of removed those," he whispered. "I didn't think there'd be much use for them anymore."

"Great," Knuckles growled. Every muscle in his body tensed. His head felt like it was going to explode. He needed a plan, and he needed one now. As he stared at his ironclad fists, an idea finally came to him. Knuckles took a deep breath. "Tails, fly the plane directly over the speeder, and keep the exact same speed as it."

"Knuckles, those fighters will shoot at us if we do that, and the shield won't last long against those bullets."

Knuckles didn't waver. "Just do it."

Tails sighed, and flew past the fighters, until the Tornado 3 was directly above the speeder. Bullets riddled the shield, and it fizzled every few seconds. The bullets were exactly where Knuckles was hoping they would be. He leapt out of his seat, and onto the rear of the plane.

Knuckles took a deep breath and said, "Tails, lower the shield."

Tails looked back with a rare expression of doubt. "We'll be blown to smithereens in seconds!"

"Just do it!" Knuckles shouted.

Tails gulped, and pulled the switch. Knuckles held his breath. The shield faded. Bullets sped towards Knuckles. He held his fists out to his side. His wrists became a blur. Metal met metal. Knuckles stood unscathed as the bullets were flung back towards the fighters. Each one exploded in a fireball, destroyed by their own shots.

Knuckles breathed once more, but in a moment, he looked skyward. As Lambda dove towards the Tornado 3, the robot's silhouette blocked the low sun. Tails rolled out of the way, and Knuckles dug a fist into the plane's hull as he held on for dear life. "Bring the plane up, Tails!" Knuckles shouted.

Tails pulled the Tornado 3 into a near-vertical ascent. Lambda gave chase. It began to gain on Knuckles and Tails. "Okay, Tails," Knuckles said, "when I let go, you get out of here. You got that?" Tails said nothing, but he nodded. Knuckles let go. As he fell, he performed a half-flip, and brought both of his fists back. Lambda didn't back down. Knuckles brought his fists down, right into Lamda's head.

There was no effect. The blow didn't even make a dent. Knuckles' jaw dropped for a split second. Then, there was a spark. Knuckles went into spasms as the electric current passed through his shovel claws and into his body. He cried out in agony. It was a cry for help, but there was no one to answer.

Somehow, through the pain, Knuckles pushed his body off Lambda. His limp form dropped like a stone, but Knuckles felt nothing. His half-conscious mind barely noticed the approaching side of the GUN speeder. Knuckles' body was brought back to full awareness as he hit the speeder with a crunch. He dug a shovel claw into the hull.

The next thing Knuckles saw was Lamba's claws tearing through the hull on either side of him. It cut through the hull like Sonic had cut through Eggman's robots years ago. Knuckles forced himself back to reality. Once again, he'd need to follow a dead hero's foolhardy example. "Rouge, can you hear me?" Knuckles shouted.

"Of course I can, we've got freaking holes all over our hull!" she shouted back.

"I need you to launch one missile out in about a minute." Lambda was pulling up into a massive loop.

"What that's going to do? We can't get a lock!"

"You won't need to." Knuckles panted. "Just trust me."

Rouge was silent for a moment. "This had better work."

Knuckles pulled himself up onto the side of the speeder. He ran along it until he reached the cockpit. He didn't bother to look inside. Instead, he simply closed his eyes. The hissing of the leaking gas and the crackling of what little fire remained was all that he heard.

Then, there was a boom. Knuckles leapt off the speeder, and hit metal within a second. As he opened his eyes, he found himself riding the missile. Knuckles grinned as he felt the wind blow through his quills. He pulled the front of the missile towards him, and it pulled him up into a tight ascent.

Knuckles looked down, and saw Lambda pursuing him. Knuckles closed his eyes. Slowly, he slid his left fist down the missile. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. The last time he'd tried what he was about to do, he'd nearly died. Knuckles opened his eyes, and looked towards the clearing sky.

Knuckles roared as he spun the missile around. His blood swirled through him as he was pulled down with the missile. The pain of his last failure was gone. Lambda was mere metres away. Knuckles pushed himself off the missile. It hurtled straight into Lambda. The explosion flung Knuckles towards the ground. He ignored the pain as shrapnel lacerated his skin. He tried to glide, but failed. His arms flailed out, seeking in vain for salvation.

Suddenly, a familiar hand grasped his wrist. "Gotcha!" cried a familiar voice. Knuckles looked up, and saw Tails leaning out of the Tornado 3. Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief, but then winced as he saw the blood on his shovel claw, and the large gash on Tails arm. Tails smiled back. "I'll live. Besides, you've been through way worse for me."

Knuckles made a rare smile as Tails pulled him up onto the plane. They both looked towards the smoke. Lambda had been reduced to a falling pile of debris. Knuckles clambered into one of the passenger seats, and strapped himself in tightly. "How's the speeder looking?" he asked.

Tails turned the plane sharply, and flew above the GUN speeder. The fires had stopped, and it had turned back right-way up, but it was slowing down. "I think the engines got fried."

"Well, there go our supplies, then," Knuckles groaned.

Tails shook his head. "There's one thing I added to the Tornado 3 that I haven't told you about yet." He pressed a button on the console. Suddenly, a burst of green energy shot towards the speeder. It lifted the GUN speeder more than a metre off the ground, and as the Tornado 3 accelerated, the speeder kept up. Tails turned his head back to face Knuckles. "Tractor beam."

Knuckles shook his head as he sat agape at Tails' latest feat. "You never cease to amaze me."

Tails shrugged. "Yeah, well I thought I'd seen everything you could do, but you proved me wrong just then."

Knuckles leant back in his seat, and folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking with that, if I was thinking at all. I swear, it was either madness, or brilliance."

Tails turned back to face the horizon. "It's remarkable how often those two threads coincide."

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HA few hours later, the sun had set, but Knuckles could still see Angel Island as it approached. The island had remained in the exact location in the ocean where they'd left it. Knuckles could barely believe that they'd been gone for a whole day.

Knuckles' thoughts were interrupted as he saw Rouge fly out of the GUN speeder. She ascended and began to fly alongside the Tornado 3. "Could you try and land this thing on some flat ground?" she asked. "We want something left to take back to base"

"Well, if we drop the speeder off near the shrine, that ought to do it," Tails replied.

"Yeah, we'll be only be there for about an hour. Unfortunately we'll have to take some of your supplies to get the engines back up and running. Do you mind?"

Tails nodded. "It's fine by me. Is that okay with you, Knuckles?" Knuckles nodded vaguely.

Rouge turned her head to face Knuckles. "I never did get a chance to thank you. We'd probably be dead now if it wasn't for your suicidal behaviour."

"Think nothing of it," Knuckles mumbled. "I sure don't."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Well, aren't you just a ball of sunshine?"

Knuckles glared at Rouge. "It's kind of hard to be one nowadays. Besides, since when were you someone to be in such a good mood?"

Rouge shrugged. "I guess it was when I realised that I could be dead right now." Rouge smirked. "Not that I'd expect an idiot like you to understand that."

Knuckles' glare turned into a scowl. "Okay, maybe you haven't realised yet, but we're in my home now, and in my home, no one insults me but me." As an afterthought, he added, "Well, alright, maybe Tails and Amy do, too."

Rouge glanced down. "Speaking of Amy…" She pointed toward the ground. Knuckles looked over the side of the plane, and saw that Amy was standing near the shrine of the Master Emerald. She was leaning on her hammer, tapping it rapidly with one of her fingers. Her scowl could be seen, even from as high up as Knuckles was.

Knuckles slumped back into his seat. "Great, just what I want right now," he groaned.

"Out of the frying pan," Rouge whispered.

"And into the fire," Tails added.

"Tell me about it," Knuckles muttered. A few seconds later, he asked, "What's a frying pan?" Tails and Rouge just stared at each other, and shook their heads.

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A/N: General Michael Stuart is not the GUN Commander from Shadow the Hedgehog. For the purposes of this fanfic, the latter character died when the Eclipse Cannon destroyed North America. I don't claim that General Michael Stuart is a terrifically designed character on the surface, but I have given him a rather interesting bit of back-story that shall be revealed in a later chapter.

Next chapter: GUN asks Knuckles and co. to investigate a mysterious distress signal from an island that's supposed to be abandoned. Who sent the message, and why? No one can answer, but these will be the last questions on our heroes' minds, as they wind up fighting for their lives against an unseen foe. All this and more in "Chapter 5: Mysteries."


	6. Mysteries

A/N: Okay, here's the latest chapter. It's not much, but hopefully you'll like it.

Chapter 5: Mysteries

It was around noon, and Tails was out on the runway, feverishly working on the Tornado 3. In test flights over the past few days, some of the new equipment had been malfunctioning, and he'd been working all morning trying to figure out what was causing the problems. At that point in time, he was under the plane, inspecting the engine.

"Let's see…" Tails whispered to himself, "if that's connected to the power source, and it runs through to the thrusters at the back and under the wings…" Tails scratched his head. "I really should stop trying to mix technologies together. This plane's getting schizophrenic."

"Tails!" a voice shouted from the cabin. Tails got out from under the Tornado 3, and saw Amy standing just outside the door to the cabin. "Lunch is ready!"

"Have you told Knuckles?" Tails replied.

Amy turned to face the approximate direction of the Master Emerald shrine. "Knuckles!" she bellowed. Tails winced, and rubbed his suddenly sore ears.

"What?" Knuckles snapped loudly in reply, although he couldn't be seen.

"Lunch!"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute!" Amy turned away, and walked back into the cabin. Tails followed her, still wondering how he managed to wind up with the two loudest creatures on Earth.

As Tails entered the cabin, he saw three large rolls set out on plates on the table. As he sat down in one of the chairs, he asked, "Where'd you get the bread?"

Amy sat down in another chair. "I made it myself," she replied. "I just managed to get together all the stuff I needed."

Tails nodded, and began to eat. About a minute later, Knuckles walked in, frowning as usual. He took one look at the food on the table, and asked, "Hey, where'd you get the bread?"

Amy slapped her hand against her forehead. "If you'd been in here a minute earlier, you would have heard the answer to that question; I made it myself."

"Well, excuse me," Knuckles muttered as he sat down. "Strength's my specialty. If you want speed, try flying around in space and putting the corpse back together." Tails' muscles tensed as he glared at Knuckles. Amy looked like she was about to cry. Knuckles raised his hands in an act of surrender. "Okay, okay, clearly if you want humour, you should also look somewhere else. I'm sorry, alright?" The group resumed eating, which they all did in silence, with a few exchanged glances the only things close to communication.

A few minutes later, they'd all finished their meal, and calmed down considerably. "So, Knuckles, how's that book that Rache-Lu gave you going?" Tails asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "Most of it's just mindless garbage. I swear if I read one more thing about some random king conquering some civilisation, I'm going to scream." Knuckles leant back in his chair. "Still, there's this one section that I can't translate. I've looked all through that guide on the ancient Echidna language, but I can't find anything that matches."

Tails scratched his chin, and stared into empty space. "Weird." He turned back to face Knuckles. "Maybe you should track down Rache-Lu and see if she can translate it. She wouldn't have given it to you if she couldn't even read a section in it."

Knuckles shook his head, and scowled. "I'd die before I'd go back amidst that band of savages."

"Says the guy who hasn't bathed in the last week," Amy said.

Knuckles glared at her. "There's much more to civilisation than that." Before Amy could reply, a loud siren wailed in the corner of the hut. "What the hell is that?"

"We're getting a message from GUN," Tails said. He was sure he'd told Knuckles about that long-range communicator they'd brought back with them about a week ago, but the echidna was prone to forgetting such things. Tails ran over to the computer in the corner.

"Speaking of groups we've run into that are led by maniacs." Knuckles and Amy both followed Tails. The fox pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and an image came up on the screen.

Rouge's face appeared on the screen. "Is that how long it's going to take for you to respond every time?" she asked.

Tails shrugged. "Probably," he replied.

"Oh great," Knuckles groaned, "we need to deal with images on this thing."

Rouge glared at Knuckles. "Hey, it's not exactly a huge pleasure for me, either," she said. "Anyway, as much as I'd love to make one, this isn't a social call." Tails, Knuckles and Amy leant closer to the monitor. "The General wants you to do something for him."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "And why should we?"

"No particular reason," Rouge replied with a sly smirk, "but the situation's fishy enough to attract your interest, I'm sure."

Knuckles frowned. "Go on."

"Well, GUN just got a distress signal. Now, generally, we don't do much investigation into these, because whoever sends them is usually dead by the time we get there anyway. But we've getting a lot of them recently, and this one came from an island that's supposed to be uninhabited."

"It's clearly a trap," Knuckles interjected.

Rouge nodded. "For once, I agree with you, but that's why the General wants you guys to look into it."

"Didn't you tell me that he didn't want me dead?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "What I meant by that is that you have a habit of getting out of deadly situations in one piece. Also, this island's only a few miles from your current position."

"Really?" Tails asked. He clicked on an icon on the bottom of the screen, and a map came up and covered the bottom half of the screen, compressing the image of Rouge's face. There was a group of several islands in the northern area of the map. "Which island is it?"

Rouge looked down, and her eyes skimmed through something below the image. "South Island."

Tails' jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

Knuckles glanced at Tails. "What's so important about South Island?"

"Well, Sonic told me about it a few times, and apparently, it's where he fought one of his first battles against Eggman."

"It's definitely a trap, then. Chances are that Eggman's built on an old base of his."

Tails turned his head to face Knuckles. "So, what do we do?"

"Spring the trap. Clearly, we're going to have to walk into some traps every now and then if we're ever going to get anywhere. Besides, if Eggman knew that we were this close, he'd just attack us directly. He must be expecting GUN to handle it. Maybe he wants to try and get a fix on their base or something. He won't be expecting us, and that gives us the advantage." Knuckles turned back to the screen. "We've got it under control, Rouge. We'll report back to you if we find anything."

"Try not to get yourself killed," Rouge said. "I'm sending over the coordinates the distress signal came from. Over and out." With those words, the image on the screen vanished.

Knuckles stood up straight, and stretched his arms. "Okay Tails, get the Tornado 3 ready. Amy, you know what you've got to do." Knuckles turned around and began to walk away. Tails stayed in his seat.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Knuckles?" Amy asked. Knuckles stopped in his tracks. "You promised that you'd let me come on a smaller mission as soon as one came up."

Knuckles closed his eyes, and muttered random obscenities. As he opened his eyes, he asked, "Tails, does this technically qualify as a smaller mission?"

Tails nodded. "It's just one little distress signal; you've been beaten, Knuckles."

Knuckles gritted his teeth, but didn't turn around. "Fine then, you can come, Amy. Just follow my every command, okay?"

Amy raised her hand to her head in a mock salute. "Yes, sir," she said. Tails struggled not to laugh.

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It wasn't long before Tails was piloting the Tornado 3 towards South Island, which was now in clear view. Knuckles and Amy had been arguing the whole trip, but now that they were so close to the island, they'd stopped. Tails breathed a sigh of relief at that thought.

"Hey Tails, you picking anything up on the scanners?" Knuckles asked.

Tails glanced at the displays in front of him. "Well, there's plenty of life-readings around here, but nothing out of the ordinary: certainly nothing human."

"Aren't there supposed to be other sentient animals on these islands?"

Tails shook his head. "Not on South Island. Eggman's base wound up driving them all away, if they didn't die or get robotocised first. Most of them are on Westside Island."

"Wouldn't Eggman have wiped them out as well?" Amy asked.

"Nah, I wondered that once," Knuckles replied. "But Eggman's got no real presence in this area. He's got his hands full fighting GUN. You picking up any robots, Tails?"

Tails shook his head. "The only metal I can find is all up at Eggman's old base," he said.

"And where did the distress signal come from?"

Tails hammered the coordinates given by Rouge into the navigation computer. "Just past the Green Hill Zone, which is about as far as you can get from that base."

Knuckles mumbled something incoherent. Finally, in a clearer voice, he said, "Any theories as to what the trap is?"

Tails frowned, and looked at the displays again. He took one hand off the controls, and stroked his muzzle. "Well, the only thing I can think of is that Eggman's got some forces up in his old base, and that all that metal is keeping them hidden from scanners. It would have to be something pretty fast though for that ambush to work."

"Great, fast," Knuckles groaned. "I hate fast. I can't keep up with fast guys."

Tails resisted the urge to laugh. "Trust me, Knuckles, I realised that ages ago."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "So we've got to get in and out as fast as we can. Tails, you'll stay in the plane and keep it ready to go. Amy, you'll go with me to check out the distress signal. We just find out whether or not whoever sent it is alive, grab any obvious evidence, and get the hell out of there. You got that?" Amy didn't respond. "Amy! Amy!"

Amy held upper her hand to silence Knuckles. "Yeah, I heard you, and I get it," she replied, "but why does the trap have to be fast? Why does it have to be in Eggman's old base at all?"

"Because Tails didn't pick up anything anywhere else."

"Well, couldn't Eggman have hidden something somewhere else?"

Knuckles sighed. "Tails, explain it to her."

"Amy," Tails said, "the only way the Tornado 3's scanners wouldn't pick something up would be if there was something jamming the signal. If that was the case, we'd pick up a spot of interference."

"Well, couldn't Eggman have come up with some new way of hiding his stuff?"

Tails shook his head. "Nothing's ever been able to slip by the scanners undetected. It always shows some sign if there's something there, and trust me, there's nothing there." Tails refocused his attention to what lay ahead. The shore of South Island was rapidly approaching. Tails pulled the plane into an ascent, and they soared over the trees that dotted the Green Hill Zone. The forest grew thicker as they went deeper into the zone.

"How much longer 'til we get to this blasted distress signal, anyway?" Knuckles asked.

Tails glanced at the display. "Just a couple more minutes, Knuckles. We should be able to see the area any moment-"

Tails was cut out by a loud boom. The whole plane shook. Tails activated the shield, then turned his head back. Smoke was pouring out of the engine. "What was that?"

Amy looked over the edge of the plane, and her eyes darted over the landscape. "I don't know, but we're under attack!" She turned to face Tails. "So much for your scanners."

Knuckles frowned. "Now's not the time," he said. "Tails, get us up as high as you can."

Tails nodded, and turned back to the controls. He could feel the sweat dampening his fur. "Hold on," he whispered. He pulled back on the joystick, and the plane pulled into a tight ascent. Tails was crushed against his seat. His vision began to blur. Finally, he pulled out of the ascent. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as the plane returned to level flying.

Another boom resounded. The shield started to fizzle. Whatever this enemy was firing was clearly stronger than average bullets. "We'd better think of something fast," Knuckles said, "or this thing's gonna take us out."

Tails turned back to face Knuckles. "What can we do? The scanners aren't picking this thing up, and it's got too much cover for us to see it ourselves!"

Another shot hit the shield, and it started to crackle. Knuckles bit his lip, and folded his arms across his chest. He lowered his head. "How many missiles have we got?"

Tails shrugged. "About half a dozen, but I don't see how that's gonna help."

Knuckles sighed. "I want you to blast the forest with missiles. Make sure there's nothing left for whatever's shooting at us to hide in."

Amy stared at Knuckles in exasperation. Tails' jaw dropped. "Knuckles, we can't just do that," he said. "What about all the animals that live there?"

"They're acceptable losses to keep ourselves alive."

Tails shook his head. He couldn't believe that Knuckles wanted him to sink this low. "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

Yet another shot hit the shield, which faded completely. Knuckles raised his head, and looked at Tails with a melancholy expression. "It's the only way, so just do it."

Tails could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "But - "

"I said do it!" Knuckles slammed his fist down on the back of Amy's chair. She flinched.

Tails nodded, and turned back to the display. He held back his tears as he entered the coordinates where the missiles would do the most damage into the computer. The tears flowed as he pressed the button. Six missiles launched from under the plane. They curved in midair, and dived towards the trees.

The missiles all hit their target. The explosions set fire to the entire forest. Soon, the blaze was all that could be seen where once there had once been life. Tails shook his head as he turned the plane around, and began to fly back towards the area where the first shot had come from.

Tails gasped. Something was rising out of the blaze. A large brown robot hovered out of the burning forest. It was shaped roughly like a tree, but it had legs where roots should have been, and instead of branches, it had a single arm on one side, and a large sniper rifle on the other. It had a large, dome-shaped head.

The robot ascended until it hovered several metres above the Tornado 3, and a fair distance away. It pointed its sniper rifle at the plane, and used its arm to hold the weapon steady. Yet another boom resounded. Tails swerved the plane to the side, but the shot hit one of the wings, tearing through it with ease. The robot reloaded.

"Tails, listen to me," Knuckles said. "Fly the plane under this thing, and then perform the tightest loop you can manage over it. I'll take care of the rest."

"But how do you know what you're planning is going to work?" Tails replied.

"Just trust me." Tails turned back, and saw that Knuckles had his shovel claws held at the ready. Tails knew that if that there was one thing that he could trust Knuckles to do, it was create havoc. Right now, that was what they needed.

Tails nodded, and turned back to face the front. His eyes narrowed, and he thrust the throttle forward. The plane rocketed forward, throwing Tails back into his seat. A bullet soared past, missing by mere inches. As they passed underneath the robot, Tails pulled back on the joystick, pulling the plane into a tight loop. Tails became dizzy as the blood rushed in seemingly random directions in his head. He thought for a moment that he saw a red blur plummeting towards the robot.

Finally, Tails pulled out of the loop, and was relieved to find that they were back on a horizontal plane. He went limp as he gasped for air. After a few moments, he found the energy to look up. His jaw dropped as he saw Knuckles standing on the wing of the plane, with the robot's head dangling from his right shovel claw.

Tails whipped his head back, and saw a massive cloud of smoke that could only be the aftermath of an explosion. Amy's expression was just as shocked as his. He turned back to face Knuckles. "How did you do that?" Tails asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "I just tore through it," he replied. "It wasn't that hard."

Tails pointed at Knuckles. "But you had to leap out at just the right time, and you would have to move just right to get through it and land on the wing!"

"Hey, I may be a bastard sometimes, and I would have a million environmentalists on my tail if Eggman hadn't outlawed 'em, but I get the job done." Tails simply nodded in reply. "Oh, by the way…" Knuckles flung the robot head at Tails. He just managed to catch it. "Souvenir."

"Knuckles," Amy said, "why would Tails want that ugly hunk of junk?"

"Actually, it could be very useful," Tails replied. "If I can hack into its memory, I may be able to find what its specific last orders were, which could be useful. Also, I'm pretty sure that it was an E-100 robot, and it couldn't hurt to check out the CPUs of those robots."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Right," she muttered. "Frankly, I'd rather you made some scanners that actually work."

Knuckles shook his head and sighed. "Come on, we've still got a mission to do. Tails, take us to the location of the distress signal, so we can figure out what's going on and then get out of here. Burning forests aren't exactly my favourite scenery."

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A few minutes later, Tails landed the Tornado 3 on a high cliff overlooking the ocean, around the location of the distress signal. The signal had been broadcast from a nearby cottage. Strangely, the house looked completely fine, save for a single broken window.

"Something's not right here," Tails said as Knuckles and Amy jumped out of the plane.

Amy scratched her head. "Yeah, shouldn't there be more destruction or something if there was a distress signal?" she asked.

Tails looked at Knuckles. "Do you think there's another trap waiting in there?"

Knuckles shook his head. "Nah, if Eggman was gonna strike, and he can keep hidden from our scanners, he would have done it we were still flying. I fight better on the ground." He turned to face Tails. "Besides, aren't you forgetting what weapon that freaky tree robot used?"

Tails nodded in realisation. "A sniper rifle…"

Knuckles nodded back. "Exactly. My guess is that that robot just fired a shot or two, and killed everyone in there." He glanced at Amy, who was looking faintly pale. "I hope you don't mind blood, because I think we're about to see a fair bit of it." He pointed towards the cottage. "Come on, let's go."

Knuckles had only taken a single step when Amy held out a hand to stop him. "Listen," she whispered. "What's that sound?" The trio fell silent, and listened intently. Tails could just hear a faint whimpering emanating from the cottage.

"Oh great," Knuckles groaned. "If there's one thing I hate more than when Eggman leaves no survivors, it's when he leaves some." For the second time that day, Tails couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Amy looked at Knuckles incredulously. "So what would you like?"

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest, and looked skyward. "Well, it would be nice if he'd just die, I suppose."

Amy rolled her eyes, and pulled Knuckles' arm. "Come on, we need to find out what's going on."

Knuckles pulled his arm away and stepped back. He held his arms out in front of him. "Oh no, there's no way I'm going in there. I can't handle all that emotional… stuff. Tails, you go in."

Tails flinched. "What?" he questioned. "But what about me staying here so we can leave in a hurry if we need to?"

Knuckles glared at Tails. "Look, we defeated the robot of the week, okay? If Eggman has anything else up his sleeve, I'll just trash it if it tries to attack us. You just go in there, and do what needs to be done. That's an order." Tails sighed and shook his head. He undid his seatbelt, and leapt out of the seat. Amy began to walk, and he followed, but before they could go very far, Knuckles said, "Tails, wait up a minute." Tails stopped, and turned around. Knuckles shooed Amy away. "Amy, you can keep going; I just need to talk to Tails for a minute." Amy shrugged, and jogged towards the cottage.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

Knuckles leant back against the side of the Tornado 3, and sighed. "Look, I know you don't exactly agree with what I told you to do back there, but I hope you realise that if we die, there's nothing to stop Eggman from burning every forest in the world down if he wants to, and I think he does. Anyway, I'm sorry I made you do it."

Tails shrugged, but he couldn't hide his frown. "That's okay."

Knuckles shook his head. "Tails, you're no better at lying than I am. The only difference is that you have a heart; I lost mine ages ago." Knuckles patted Tails on the shoulder. "Hold onto that, will you? One angsty guy's enough for this outfit."

Tails nodded, and turned around. Before he could take a step, he heard Amy's voice gasp, "Oh my God."

Knuckles frowned. "Sounds like Amy's not taking it too well," he said, but Tails was already running towards the cottage. He reached it within a matter of seconds, and barged through the open door, which led into the kitchen. What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life.

An adult female rabbit lay crumpled on the floor, dead from a bullet right between the eyes. A very young female rabbit knelt beside the corpse. Her closed eyelids couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She held a heavily bleeding, light blue chao in her arms, and its blood stained her orange dress until it was as dirty as the entire scene.

Tails just stood there, utterly paralysed. He'd seen some terrible things in his life, but nothing like this. He managed to glance at Amy, whose face had all lost trace of colour, save for her fur, which formed a mocking contrast. Her eyes, however, were solely on the scene before the pair. She shook her head a few times, but Tails knew all too well that nothing was going to make this scene go away.

Nevertheless, something had to be done. Tails couldn't just leave the young rabbit there. He'd never forgive himself if he did. She had nothing left, and although he didn't know what he could offer, he had to do something. But what could he do? Even though he'd been in a similar situation before, he hadn't dealt with it well, and he didn't have a clue how he could have done so. Even if he had, there were so many little things, so many things he didn't know about her. One wrong move could ruin any chance. So he just stood there, watching her, and hoping that a solution would come out of nowhere.

Much to Tails surprise, it came. Amy took one step towards the rabbit, and then another. Finally, she managed to whisper, "Hello?" It wasn't much, but it was far more than Tails had found the courage to do.

The rabbit didn't open her eyes. The tears kept flowing as she cowered away from Amy's voice. "Just do it," she whimpered.

Amy moved to step back, but somehow stood her ground. "Do what?"

The rabbit sniffled. "Finish me. You've taken everything else away; why should it matter now?"

Amy shook her head. "We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help."

The rabbit stopped crying, and opened her eyes. Maybe it was just relative, but when compared to her tiny body, her brown eyes seemed massive. Tails couldn't help but feel that they had once been full of hope, and he would have given anything to see them like that. Now, they just reflected the emptiness that he was sure she felt inside her. "You're not that creature who came here before," the rabbit whispered in a voice that should have been heavenly, but was filled with despair. "Who are you?"

"I'm Amy," Amy replied. She pointed to Tails. "That's Tails." He waved, and immediately felt like an idiot for doing it. Amy shot a frown in his direction, and he stepped back. "We also have another friend called Knuckles, but he's outside." There was an awkward silence. "Um, what's your name?"

"Cream."

Amy managed to form a warm smile, though Tails didn't understand how she could do it. "That's a nice name." Tails thought he saw a flicker of happiness in Cream's eyes, but it was gone in an instant as she shivered. Tails knew that the cold she felt couldn't be adequately described. Amy picked up a large tea-towel as she walked towards Cream. She put it over the rabbit's shoulders, and knelt in front of her. "Do you think you could tell me what happened here?"

Cream whimpered again, and the flow of tears restarted. She managed to nod as she looked down at the chao in her arms. "I don't know exactly. We were just preparing lunch, and Cheese was hovering in front of the window like he always does… did." Tails guessed that Cheese was the chao's name. He glanced over to the broken window, and figured out the rest. It was best to let Cream tell it, though. "I saw a really strange tree outside, and it was moving. There was a loud noise, and the window shattered. Cheese dropped to the ground, and blood spilled everywhere." Cream shuddered, and fell silent.

Amy gently stroked Cream behind the ear. "Come on, you can do it."

Cream took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. "My mama hit the button for the distress signal, but as she went to pick up Cheese, there was another noise, and… and…" Cream wailed, and wrapped one arm around Amy, holding onto Cheese with the other. Amy returned the embrace. As she stroked Cream's light fur, Tails found himself the odd one out. He sighed, and walked around the kitchen to try and take his mind off things.

The room was spotless, save for the glass fragments near the window and the blood that had stained the whole scene. Tails studied every detail intently to try and take his mind off Cream's wailing. He couldn't bear to hear it, and yet he couldn't leave. He wanted to be the one comforting her, and yet he couldn't. He hated Eggman for what that robot did, but he hated himself even more, for being powerless to stop it. He clenched his fists until he was sure he would pierce his skin. Finally, he managed to calm down. Enough blood had already been spilt that day.

Tails turned around, and saw that the scene was much as it had been before. Cream now had both of her arms around Amy, and was wailing louder than before. Cheese's body had been laid down beside the pair. Amy's eyes were closed.

"I know it's hard to believe," Amy said, "but I know how you feel." Tails wanted to share that comment, but couldn't. "I lost someone who meant a lot to me, too. But we're gonna help you get through this, I promise." Cream's sobs softened ever so slightly.

Tails walked over to the group. He knelt beside Cheese's body, and inspected it. The chao had a gaping hole in the side of his chest, and it had become clogged with blood. There was no doubt that it looked bad, but Tails had to do something, to give something. Right now, all he could give was a hope.

Tails made some silent prayers to each and every god he could think of as he felt around Cheese's neck. He held back the tears as he assigned himself to the fact that there was nothing to find. Just as all hope seemed lost, he felt the faintest beat in Cheese's neck. Tails sighed with relief as another beat, just as weak as the first, but still present, confirmed the pulse.

"Um, Cream?" Tails asked. There was no response, save for a slight change in the volume of Cream's sobs. "Cheese is alive.

Cream went silent. She and Amy both turned to face Tails, their expressions betraying their mixture of worry and faint hope. "He's… alive?" Cream whispered.

Tails nodded. "Barely, but he needs medical attention, and fast. We need to take him to Angel Island."

Amy looked at Cream. "Is that okay, Cream?"

Cream paid no attention, and broke off the embrace they had shared. Her eyes were now solely on Tails. "Can you save him?" she pleaded.

Tails closed his eyes. "I don't know," he said. Cream's head sagged. He opened his eyes, and put a hand on her shoulder. "But I promise we'll do everything we can."

Cream nodded, and scooped Cheese up into her arms. "It's going to be okay, Cheese, it's going to be okay…" She kept whispering those words as she stood up and walked towards the door. Tails sat there for a moment, utterly stunned.

Amy leapt up and walked beside Cream. "Um, is there anything from here you need?" she asked. "We could be gone a while."

Cream shook her head. "All I need is Cheese. I need you, Cheese, I need you…"

Tails stood up as Amy and Cream walked out the door. He ran after them. As he left the cottage, he found that the pair had already reached the Tornado 3, and were climbing aboard. Meanwhile, Knuckles was walking towards Tails with a massive scowl on his face. They both stopped, with less than a metre between them.

"Okay, three questions," Knuckles growled. "Who's the rabbit, who's the chao, and what the hell are they doing?"

Tails gritted his teeth. "The rabbit's called Cream, the chao's called Cheese, and they're coming with us because Cheese needs serious medical attention."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Cream and Cheese? Who came up with those names?"

Tails shrugged. "Presumably a dead woman."

Knuckles nodded. "Ah, well that answers another question I was about to ask."

Tails sighed. He'd just had a thought, and he knew Knuckles was going to hate it. "Look, Knuckles, can I ask you a favour?"

"I think you're going to anyway."

Tails ignored that comment. "Could you stay here and watch over the body of Cream's mother?" Knuckles stared at Tails. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I swear."

Knuckles put his hand in front of his face, and shook his head. "Okay, I'm going to explain this how I see it, so correct me if I'm wrong: I'm staying here, alone, on an island that could still potentially be inhabited by killer robots. I'm doing this so I can guard a corpse." Knuckles spread his arms out wide. "Mind explaining to me why I'm doing this?"

Tails sighed. "Look, I don't think Cream's going to be coming back here. I want to give her mother a decent burial, so she can get some closure."

"What more closure could she ask for than her mother's death?"

Tails shoved Knuckles, but his puny attack barely caused the echidna to budge, though he definitely flinched. "Look, do you know what I would have given to have Sonic's body, so I could bury it?" Tails shouted. "Anything!" Tails took a few deep breaths, and stepped back. "I think Cream deserves that chance. Come on, you were just telling me that I should hold onto my heart. Well, that's what I'm trying to do."

Knuckles sighed. "I hate it when someone follows my advice. It always winds up backfiring on me." He shrugged. "Still, I suppose I can't go back on my word now, can I? You're totally crazy, but I'm gonna let you do what you want this time." Knuckles waved in the general direction of the Tornado 3. "Now get out of here. I don't wanna be stuck on this dump any longer than I need to."

Tails nodded, and ran past Knuckles. Before he could go far, Knuckles whispered, "Oh, and Tails?" Tails stopped in his tracks, and turned around to face him. Knuckles didn't return the gesture. "Good luck."

Tails managed a weak smile, but it vanished as soon as he turned around again. He ran towards the Tornado 3, and jumped aboard. There was a faint click as he strapped himself in. He turned his head around, and looked at Cream, who was sitting in the seat behind him. Her eyes were closed, and she held Cheese close to her chest. As she gently rocked in her seat, she whispered, "It's going to be okay, Cheese, it's going to be okay." Her tears suggested otherwise. Tails couldn't even bring himself to try to fool anyone.

Tails forced his head back to the front, and pushed on the throttle. The plane rocketed away, and took to the skies. Tails made a turn, much more gently than usual, in the hope of sparing Cream's nerves. They passed over the forest, which was still burning, but the fire was dying down. There was nothing left but the occasional charred husk of a tree. It was just one scene of death that he'd seen that day, and Tails didn't want to see another.

Something would rise from the ashes. Something had to.

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Next chapter: One life has been lost, and another hangs in the balance. Will Cheese pull through, or will Cream lose everything she's ever known? Can Tails deal with fear, despair, and a friend who doesn't seem to care? These questions and more will be answered in Chapter 6: From the Ashes.

A/N: The notion of Cream living in the Green Hill Zone apparently comes from a Japanese episode of Sonic X. Regardless, I think it's a decent concept, and it's not as if it really affects the plot that much, anyway.

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	7. From the Ashes

**Chapter 6: From the Ashes**

The cabin was silent, save for the quiet breathing of its inhabitants. Cheese lay on one of the beds, bandages covering the massive wound on his chest. Tails noticed a red bow tie around the chao's neck that he hadn't seen before. Until recently, it had probably blended in with the blood. Cream sat in a chair beside Cheese, holding one of his tiny arms. Her teary eyes were fixated upon him, and didn't budge, even as Amy went around with various medical instruments. Cream only blinked occasionally.

Tails stood as far away as possible from the scene. He leant back against the door, and tried not to look. He was in unknown territory. Although he'd experienced the death of his best friend, it had all been over in a flash. He hadn't had to deal with such prolonged worry. All it had been was a short, sharp shock, and then it was all over. The aftermath wasn't pleasant, but at least he knew where things stood.

Admittedly, Tails had felt similar worry in his life to what Cream must have been feeling. When he'd found Knuckles' broken body that night, when he thought he'd lost him to Eta, he'd felt fear, but it was different. He was certain he wasn't as close to Knuckles as Cream was to Cheese. Besides, Tails had been able to remind himself that Knuckles was tough, and that he'd surely pull through. He doubted that Cream could say the same for Cheese.

Finally, Amy stopped her duties, and sighed. "Well, I've done all I can," she whispered. "Do you want me to get you anything, Cream?"

Cream shook her head, but didn't look up for a moment. "Is he going to make it?" she asked. Tails stifled a groan. The scene was like watching a train wreck; no matter how horrible it was, he couldn't turn away.

"I don't know. All we can do now is wait and see." Amy's head sagged, and she trudged towards Tails. "We should probably leave her alone." Tails nodded in agreement, and the pair walked outside.

It was dark outside. Tails couldn't help but marvel at how quickly the sun had set that day. He looked up at the sky, hoping to see even a single star, but clouds had blotted out all the light. His head sank, and he sighed. "Be honest with me, Amy," he said. "What are the chances of Cheese surviving?"

Amy frowned. "About as likely as Knuckles being in a good mood when he gets back." She closed her eyes. "Remember how I once told you it's important to actually remove the bullet from a bullet wound?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, you said that if you hadn't removed that bullet from Knuckles' leg, he probably wouldn't have been able to walk again. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Amy opened her eyes. "Well, that's about the only thing I didn't need to worry about when treating that poor chao. The bullet had gone right through him. It's the worst case I've ever seen, and they showed us some pretty gruesome stuff in that first aid course."

Tails shook his head, as if it would make that notion go away. "Why?" Amy didn't respond, but Tails continued. "Why'd this have to happen?" Tears formed in his eyes. "Yeah, we all know Eggman's evil, but doesn't he have more important things to do right now then just go around killing at random? They were no threat to him! They don't deserve this!" The tears flowed freely now.

Amy put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Tails, there's only one guy in the world who deserves that, and he's the one guy who it's probably never gonna happen to."

Tails walked away, hiding his tears. "Look, I've gotta go pick up Knuckles," he muttered. He broke into a run.

"Tails!" Amy shouted. Tails kept running. "Tails!" she shouted again, louder this time.

Tails stopped, but didn't turn back. "What is it?"

"You're running the wrong way." Tails slouched as he turned around. Amy pointed behind her. "The plane's that way." There was a flicker of a smile on her face, but it vanished in an instant.

Tails nodded. "I knew that." It was a downright lie. Right now, he wasn't sure if he knew anything anymore.

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It wasn't long before Tails returned to Angel Island, but it seemed like a lifetime to him. Knuckles had said nothing during the entire trip back from South Island, and Tails was grateful for it. The last thing he wanted right now was some of Knuckles' patented cynicism.

The Tornado 3 landed on the runway, and slowed to a gentle stop. Tails gradually shut down the plane's systems. He sighed as he unbuckled his seat belt. As he looked back, he noticed that Knuckles was already on the ground, and had taken the body of Cream's mother with him. The corpse lay behind him, and he held it by the ankles.

Tails shook his head as he jumped out of the plane. He pointed at the corpse. "Couldn't you show her a bit of respect?" he growled.

"Tails, she's dead," Knuckles replied. "What does it matter?" Tails simply glared in response. Knuckles shrugged. "Fine, have it your way." He tossed the corpse over his shoulder.

Tails rolled his eyes. "Come on," he muttered. He walked away, and motioned for Knuckles to follow. The echidna complied.

Knuckles picked up the pace until he was walking beside Tails. "Hey, Tails, where exactly are we going to keep this thing anyway? I sure don't want it stinking up the shrine, and at a guess, there's someone in the cabin who doesn't want to see it just yet."

"I've got it under control, okay? There's something round the back that will do the trick." Tails and Knuckles walked around to the rear of the cabin. Amy was there, and she was standing next to a clear, horizontal capsule that hovered a foot about the ground. The device had a small keyboard on its side.

"What the hell is this?" Knuckles asked.

Amy gritted her teeth. "Were you paying any attention when Tails told us what all the stuff we got from GUN does?"

"Only when he was describing the weapons, and something tells me this isn't one of those, unless we're planning a very quick cremation." Tails and Amy both glared at Knuckles. "Can anyone here take a joke?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "This coming from the most short-tempered guy on the planet."

Tails held up his hand, silencing Amy and Knuckles. "Look, it's a cryogenic freezer capsule," Tails said. Knuckles stared blankly. "It freezes things in order to preserve them."

Knuckles held up his free hand. "And why are we preserving a corpse?"

Tails' muscles tightened. "I told you – I think Cream deserves the chance to give her mother a decent burial."

Knuckles was silent for a moment. "Interesting that you think she'll be around here for that long." Tails was about to reply, but Knuckles cut him off. "Well, go on then, open the blasted thing up so I can put this corpse in there."

Tails flinched, but soon got a hold of himself. He walked over to the capsule, and pressed a button on the keyboard. The capsule hissed as it opened up. Mist poured out into the air. Tails pointed into the capsule. Knuckles trudged over, and tossed the body in. Tails gritted his teeth, and rearranged the body, so that it was lying properly on its back, and not in the haphazard way Knuckles had left it.

Tails shivered as he got out and closed the capsule. "Amy, could you take that over to the storage shed?" he asked. Amy nodded, and pushed the capsule over towards a shoddily built shed next to the cabin. Tails had had to build it up in a hurry to store all the supplies they'd gotten from GUN, but it had held together so far.

When Amy was out of sight, Tails turned to face Knuckles. "What's your problem, anyway?" Tails snapped.

Knuckles scowled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Tails scowled. "Come on, you know what I'm talking about. You've been acting up ever since we found Cream. Why?"

Knuckles scowled back. "I think the bigger question is, 'Why are we going out of our way to slightly prolong the life of that chao?' It's gonna die, anyway."

Tails stamped his foot. "He's not gonna die!"

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest. "Oh? And what makes you so sure?"

Tails frowned, and lowered his head. "Because… he can't."

"I see. If I were you, I'd have a long, hard think about how objective you're being." Knuckles turned away. "But if you'd rather do something else, then go analyse that robot head we found."

Tails shook his head. "I can't. I left my toolbox in the cabin, and Cream's in there. I can't go in there."

"Why not? You afraid of what you might find?"

Tails head shot up. "You're wrong!" Knuckles said nothing, and walked away, towards the shrine. With a huge effort, Tails managed to turn away.

Tails knew he was right, but only in a way. He wasn't afraid of what he might find there, but rather, what he might not find there. He was afraid that he would walk into that cabin, and find nothing. He was afraid that all that would be left in there was an emptiness, the only natural result of Cheese's death. He knew he couldn't truly find something like that, but he was afraid that it could find him.

Tails trudged towards the cabin entrance. He applied a tiny push to the door. It creaked as it opened; that was the only sound that could be heard. Tails walked into the cabin, and found everything exactly as he'd left it. Cheese was still lying on the bed, and Cream sat beside him. The fact that she wasn't actively crying suggested that Cheese was still alive. Tails had that much to be thankful for. He walked past the bed without making a sound. He picked up his toolbox, and was about to leave when he dared to look at Cream's face.

Tails was sure that if he looked up "despair" in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of Cream's face at that exact moment. Her complexion was pale at best. Her eyes were lifeless. Her mouth was rigid, as if she was using her expression as a last bastion against a horde of misery that was ready to claim her at any minute. Cream looked at Tails. His jaw dropped, and he shuddered.

Tails was no longer staring at Cream, but at himself. The figure was no longer watching over a bed, but staring out into the harsh vacuum of space. He was no longer watching a dying body, but rather a burning capsule. With agonising slowness, it burned, always getting redder, but never exploding, never sealing anything.

Tails tore himself from the vision, and barged out of the cabin. He slammed the door behind him. The toolbox fell from his hand, its contents spilling out over the ground. Tails slumped to the ground, and he panted like he'd been through hell and back again. Maybe that's because he had been. As Tails rubbed his temples, he knew exactly what was happening.

His worst memory had invaded his dreams before, but now it had burst forth into his life.

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Hours passed, but to Tails, it seemed like days. He'd resolved to extract the robot's memory core before he did anything else, but the work was long, tedious, and so simple that it allowed his mind to wander far more than he'd like.

Try as he might, Tails couldn't get that cursed image from the cabin out of his mind. Maybe Knuckles was right. Maybe he wasn't being objective. Was he just seeing his own suffering in Cream's situation? Was his hope that Cheese would survive just a selfish desire to fix the errors of his own past, or was there something more?

With a sigh, Tails removed the final screw holding the robot's memory core in place. He pulled it out of its socket, and held it up to the fading moonlight. No light shone off its dusty exterior. It was so small, barely the size of Tails' palm, and yet it held a story of a crime against nature, against life, and against any good that remained in the world. Somewhere in this plain device lay the reason for Cream's suffering… if there was one at all.

Tails put the memory core into his toolbox, which he snapped shut. The only computer he possessed that could read that memory core was in the cabin, and he had no desire to revisit that nightmare. He stood up, leaving the toolbox on the ground, and walked away. He had no destination in mind, but some force that he couldn't fight drew him back to the cabin. Before he realised what he was doing, he nearly back at the scene of his renewed nightmare.

Tails forced himself to a stop, a few metres from the door. Part of him wanted to go forward, while another wanted him to flee, and thus he was rooted to the spot. Something was happening behind those walls, something that would change someone's life forever. He wanted to be there, but knew that he shouldn't. It wasn't his place.

The silence was broken by the creeping of the cabin door. A shiver ran down Tails' spine. Amy stepped out, her head hung low. Tails let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. He ran up to Amy, who glanced up. "How's he doing?" Tails asked.

Amy shook her head. "I'd give him a few minutes, tops." She walked past Tails, without turning back.

Tails spun to face her. "Where are you going?"

"Look, Tails, you're not the only one who's being reminded of other things." With those words, Amy walked away into the night.

Tails couldn't fight the urge anymore. Only through seeing the inevitable would he find any peace. He pushed the door open. It creaked, and he held his breath. He could only hear a gentle weeping from the other side. He pushed the door open all the way. He shook his head as his eyes fell upon the latest in a series of horrible scenes.

A pale grey cocoon was slowly enveloping Cheese. Cream was on the bed, her hands pressed up against the barrier. It didn't budge. Tears flowed out of her lifeless eyes. "Cheese," she sobbed, "please, don't leave me. You're all I have left."

Tails remained motionless. He was no expert when it came to chao, but he knew what was happening. His worst nightmare was about to reach its logical conclusion, and at that moment, there was nothing he hated more than logic. He'd been in Cream's position before, and he knew that, although Cheese was the one who was dying, she was the one who would suffer the most. She was the one who'd be dragged into the void that had claimed Knuckles, Amy, and himself.

Cream didn't deserve that. No one deserved that, not even the one who'd caused it to happen. Thoughts flooded Tails' mind, thoughts of any number of possible ways to stop what was happening, but each one was more ridiculous than the last. As each second passed, the cocoon grew darker and darker, until eventually, it was almost black, and it was impossible to see inside.

"No…" Cream whispered, but it was too late. She pressed her head against the natural coffin, and closed her eyes. Tears slid down her face, and passed the short gap to the cocoon. Pink stains trickled down the surface. Tails scowled as he fought back the tears. Death had the nerve to mock its own victims.

Tails screwed his eyes shut. He tried to kid himself that it was out of respect for Cream's privacy. He knew that it was out of his own fear and inability. The same fear that had held him back on ARK haunted him now: the fear that it may all be pointless. He was out of his depth in more ways than one, and right now, he just wanted to believe that that wasn't the case.

The room fell silent as Cream's sobs stopped. One way or another, something had ended. Cream let out a faint gasp. Tails dared to open his eyes. His gasp joined Cream's. Where the grey cocoon had once stood, there was now a fading pink cocoon, with a large egg inside it. As the husk faded, the egg remained. Cream's hands trembled as they edged towards it. Her eyes had the faintest glimmer of hope in them. Once again, Tails found himself pleading to beings that his logical mind had been certain didn't exist. A miracle was needed, and he had to believe that something out there could provide it.

Cream picked up the egg, and held it at eye level. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out, not even a breath. For a long moment, all was still. Then, the egg began to shake. Cracks appeared across its surface. The top shattered, and a tiny blue head poked its way out. As more of the eggshell fell away, it revealed a red bow tie around what Tails knew to be the neck of a chao.

Once again, tears formed in Cream's eyes, but they were different this time. "Cheese?" she whispered.

The chao, who was smaller than Cheese had been, looked around the room with its vacant eyes. Finally, they came to rest on Cream. For a brief moment, the pair stared into each other's eyes. Then, the chao nodded. It was that needed to be said. "Chao!" Cheese shouted as he leapt into Cream's waiting arms, which promptly squeezed him tightly in a warm embrace.

For the first time, Tails saw Cream smile, and heard her laugh. It was worth all the pain he'd gone through to see it. Finally, she'd reached that heavenly state that he was sure she'd spent most of her life in. Tails breathed a sigh of relief.

Cream stopped laughing, and looked at Tails. Sweat trickled down Tails' brow. "Um… er…" he whispered. "Congratulations." He winced at his poor choice of words. He pointed outside. "I'll be off now. Just give me a shout if you need anything." He turned around.

"Tails, wait," Cream whispered.

Tails turned his head around. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Thank you."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

Cream shrugged. "Everything."

Tails nodded, and walked outside, more confused than he had been when he'd entered the cabin, but grateful for it. The sun was rising in the east. As Tails walked towards the shrine of the Master Emerald, laughter filled the air. He turned around once again. Cream had wasted no time: she was already outside, with Cheese flying beside her as fast as his shrunken wings could carry him.

The pair seemed full of life now. Every step Cream took had a spring in it, propelling her along effortlessly. Cheese looped and turned in mid-air with surprising agility. Occasionally, he spiraled out of control, but she was always there to steady him. They were like partners in a dance that honoured life. Tails smiled. He wished he could be like that, but even to watch it was a gift in itself.

Cream and Cheese passed out of sight, but their laughter still filled the air. With his head held high, Tails resumed his trek towards the shrine. It wasn't long before he reached it, and as he ascended its steps, he found Knuckles standing at the top, looking up at the sky. Tails walked beside him, and looked up as well.

"Care to tell me how the hell that happened?" Knuckles asked.

Tails shrugged. "Apparently, chao still have a few surprises up their sleeve."

"They don't have sleeves."

Tails laughed to himself. "It's a figure of speech, Knuckles."

"Right." Knuckles was silent for a moment. "Listen, you should get some rest. It's been a long day."

Tails shook his head. "I'm not that tired."

"Well in that case, you won't mind if you start looking for where those blasted echidnas from Nachide went, right now."

Tails looked down from the sky, and stared straight at Knuckles' face. "What?"

Knuckles looked at Tails. "Can you think of anywhere else we could send the kid? Frankly, I'd rather she was with someone I wouldn't mind killing if they mistreat her."

"But why can't she stay here?"

Knuckles scowled. "Tails, this isn't an orphanage we're running here! This is war! Trust me, the kid and her pet aren't cut out for this life."

Tails stepped towards Knuckles, and looked up into the echidna's face. "How can you be so heartless? Do you have any idea what she's been through?" Tails clenched his fists.

Knuckles stepped back, and folded his arms across his chest. He closed his eyes. "Look Tails, don't get me wrong, what's happened to her is regrettable, and I'm glad for her sake that the chao made it through alright. It's just that she's utterly useless to us. She's nothing but a kid who was probably spoilt rotten by her mother. She's got no skills, and she sure as hell can't fight."

There was silence for a moment. Knuckles was right, and there could be no doubt about that, but Tails had seen something his friend hadn't seen. "So whether Cream stays or gets kicked out boils down to whether or not she has a use to us."

Knuckles nodded. "Pretty much."

"Well, maybe you could answer a question, then: why do we bother fighting Eggman?" Tails stared at his feet. "You told me the day we escaped ARK that there was no way we could ever hope to defeat him, and that's basically the message you've given off ever since then. So, why do we bother fighting?" Knuckles didn't answer. Tails raised his head, and stood firm. "Well, I'll tell you what keeps me fighting. It's the thought that we could make life even a little bit better for someone. As long as I can do that, I'll keep fighting."

Knuckles' scowl turned into a frown. "And you think the kid provides that?"

"I've gotta hope she does."

"And that's all it is?"

"Well, you were right before, Knuckles: I wasn't being objective, but I've seen something since then."

"And you honestly think she'll be happier here than anywhere else?"

Tails nodded. "I don't know why, before you ask. It's just a gut instinct."

Knuckles sighed, and opened his eyes. "Then, as much as I hate to say it, I'd have to be mad to kick her off this island. She can stay, as long as she doesn't get in the way." Knuckles managed a weak smile. "I suppose I'll have to stop eating the wild rabbits around here now, won't I?"

"Probably." The pair fell silent. The laughter grew louder as Cream and Cheese emerged out of cover and into the light. Tails gazed at them as they made their way around the shrine. Cream looked up, and waved at Tails. He smiled sheepishly as he waved back. Knuckles didn't respond.

It was at that moment that Tails realised what it was he'd congratulated Cream for earlier. It was honesty, to others and to herself. When things were at their very worst, she hadn't denied what had been happening, and thus she'd been able to save Cheese, and herself. He hadn't done that, and thus he'd fallen into emptiness. Amy and Knuckles seemed to have suffered a similar fate. Maybe there was something they could all learn from Cream.

Tails knew that the future held many uncertainties, but there was no doubt in his mind that it would be hard, especially for Cream. The reality of her mother's death would hit her someday, but he was sure she would cope, and that he'd be there to help her every step of the way.


	8. High Tech Treason

A/N: The title for this chapter is a reference to an excellent fanfic of the same name by aiglon15, and used with his permission. I highly recommend that fanfic to you all. You can find a link to it in my favourites list.

**Chapter 7: High Tech Treason**

Knuckles tapped his foot rapidly. "How much longer is this thing gonna take?" he growled.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, like you've got anything better to do with your time, anyway," Amy replied.

"She's got a point, Knuckles," Tails said. "Besides, you're starting to remind me of a certain hedgehog." Knuckles' foot stopped instantly.

The trio was inside the cabin. Tails was seated in front of the computer, analysing the memory core they'd obtained only the day before. Amy sat in a nearby chair, drying a mug with a tea-towel. She'd been drying the same mug for the past twenty minutes, but she didn't seem to have noticed. Occasionally, she peered over Tails' shoulder. Knuckles stood at the opposite end of the cabin, leaning against the closed door.

Minutes passed, and then there was a series of beeps from the computer. "Yes!" Tails exclaimed. "I've just gotten access to the robot's memory."

Amy stood up and walked closer to the computer, but Knuckles didn't budge. The mere thought of all the horrendous gibberish that was inevitably on the monitor almost made him physically ill. "Well, what's on there?" he asked.

Tails was silent for a moment, but then he continued. "Let's see, it was definitely an Eggman robot, designation E-110 Lambda. It was a prototype assassin robot, but I guess we could figure that one out, anyway. It had advanced camouflage and sensor jamming technology, unlike anything I've ever seen before. Its engines have a power output of - "

Knuckles cracked his namesake. "Tails, I really don't care about numbers. Just see if you can find a mission log."

"I'm on it." Tails pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and waited for a few seconds. The computer beeped again. "Found it." He stroked his muzzle, and was silent.

Knuckles closed his eyes. "Well, what's on there?"

"It's strange. Most of it seems to have been deleted. Looks like this thing must have had some sort of program that caused it to delete as much of its memory as it could while it was being destroyed. There's only one command left."

"And what is it?"

"It reads, 'Chaos Stream. Find the guardian.'"

Knuckles opened his eyes. "Okay, for once, I want you to tell me that's some sort of technical gibberish, because otherwise I don't think anyone here understands what that means."

Tails turned his chair around to face Knuckles and Amy. "I wish I could, but it doesn't mean anything to me." Tails scratched his head. "Well, I guess 'the guardian' could refer to you, since you're the only guardian that I know of."

"Yeah, but I don't know anything about any Chaos Stream."

"Well, it can't be you then," Amy interjected. "I mean, it must be referring to the guardian of this Chaos Stream thing, and you can't be a guardian without knowing it."

"Well, that's not necessarily true," Tails said. He looked at Knuckles. "Still, since you've been the guardian of the Master Emerald for…" Tails vaguely waved his hand around.

"As long as I can remember," Knuckles added.

Tails nodded. "Right, since you've been the guardian of the Master Emerald for as long as you can remember, it's likely that you'd know if you were also the guardian of something else. So this probably isn't referring to you."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "So who could it be, then?"

Tails shrugged. "Well, until we know what this thing is, we can't really say."

"And how are we supposed to find out what the hell this thing is?"

"Well, it sounds like the sort of thing your ancestors would have been into."

Knuckles frowned. "Are you suggesting that we track down those echidnas from Nachide?"

"Why not? You were willing to track them down only a few hours ago."

"Yeah, but that's when I was thinking that would help me to get rid of something I didn't want." As if on cue, there was a series of gentle taps on the door. "Speak of the devil."

"Come on, Knuckles," Amy said. "You're acting like she was trying to kill you or something."

"Yeah, well at least I know how to handle that." Knuckles stepped away from the door, and backed himself into the corner of the cabin. Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head. She walked over to the door, and opened it.

"Hello, Miss Amy!" said the unmistakable voice of Cream. Knuckles suppressed a shudder at that high-pitched greeting. Tails hurriedly switched off the computer, although Knuckles didn't know why – there was no way that she would understand a word on there.

Cream walked into the room, carrying Cheese in her arms. She waved at Tails. "Hi Tails!" she said. Tails smiled as he waved back. Knuckles rolled his eyes. Cream turned to face him. "Hello, Mister Knuckles!" Knuckles didn't respond. Cream stared at Knuckles as she walked towards him. When she was mere inches away from him, she waved her hand across his field of vision.

"I see you," Knuckles muttered. "Hello."

Amy walked up to Cream's side, and leant towards her ear. "Ignore him," she whispered. "He's always like this."

Knuckles stamped his foot, causing Cream to flinch. "I am not!"

"Oh yeah, then name me one time when you've been in a better mood than this." Amy held up her index finger.

Knuckles resisted the urge to tear that finger off. Instead, he scratched his head for nearly a minute. "Well, plenty of times before you lot came into my life."

"Yeah, right." She turned away from Knuckles, and faced Cream. "Anyway Cream, what are you doing here? Lunch isn't for another hour yet, or have you just seen all you've wanted to see on the Island?"

Cream shook her head. "No, I just wanted to talk to you about something," she said. "You remember that hedgehog you were telling me about, I think he was called Sonic?"

Amy frowned, closed her eyes, and turned away. Knuckles wondered how Cream managed to get away with such a lack of tact. He'd have been hard pressed to get out in one piece after saying such a thing. Amy sighed, and asked, "Yeah, what about him?"

"What did you say he looked like?"

Amy held a hand slightly above her head. "Well, he was about this high, had blue fur, and his quills hung down slightly. And his eyes… they were the most beautiful shade of green I've ever seen." Amy stared off into empty space. Knuckles made a very fake gagging gesture, and was surprised to see Tails nodding in agreement. Amy turned around, and Knuckles immediately stopped. He coughed to cover it up. She glared at him for a moment, before her expression returned to normal. She looked at Cream. "Why do you ask?"

Cream pointed out the door. "Well, I think I just saw him outside."

Amy dropped her mug. It shattered when it hit the ground. Tails leapt out of his seat, somehow landing on his feet. Knuckles simply rolled his eyes. "Tell me, kid," he said, "do you know what 'dead' means? If you don't, I'd be glad to take you around back and show you a dead body." Tails and Amy both glared at him.

Cream turned to face Knuckles. Tears were forming in her eyes. "I know Miss Amy said that Mister Sonic is… dead, but I'm sure I saw him." The tears flowed freely, but Cream managed to remain silent.

Knuckles sighed, and held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay, let's just look at this logically, shall we? Where do you think you saw Sonic?"

Cream sniffled, and pointed outside. "Well, on top of that big stone thing you and Tails were standing at earlier."

Knuckles was out the door before Cream could finish her sentence. He sprinted towards the shrine. He didn't care anymore whether Cream was right or not, but no one set foot near the Master Emerald without his permission. He soon reached the shrine, and leapt up the steps three at a time. As he reached the top, he rolled into a combat stance. He flinched for a moment, and then scowled. Cream had been right… from a certain point of view.

A robot stood between Knuckles and the Master Emerald, with its back to him, but it was no ordinary robot. It was only as tall and Knuckles, but had a build sleeker than anything that he had ever seen. It was thin, but it conveyed an image of power and, more importantly, speed. The small rocket exhaust attached to its back made sure of that. The robot's paint was dull and chipped, but its blue colour scheme that had once been so resplendent was still there.

"Metal," Knuckles growled. Metal Sonic's surname went without saying.

"This is a beautiful jewel," Metal said in a cold, cruel voice. The robot turned to face Knuckles. The red LEDs of Metal's eyes formed a start contrast with the black background, a contrast that made Knuckles back away ever so slightly. The echidna clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. Metal laughed to itself. "Such a shame that it has to be guarded by a foolish brute."

"I'll show you who's a foolish brute!" Knuckles shouted. He leapt at Metal, and launched a punch straight at the robot's head. Right before the blow made contact, Metal vanished. Knuckles leant back as he landed, and his fist missed the Master Emerald by less than an inch. The sudden change in stance caused him to lose his balance, and he fell flat on his back.

Knuckles leapt to his feet, and backed up against the Master Emerald. Metal was standing a metre away, scratching the bottom of its nose with one of its claw-like fingers. "Temper, temper," it whispered. "You need to learn to think before you act, but thinking after you act will do for now. If I'd wanted to harm you or the Master Emerald, I would have done it by now. After all - " Metal zipped right up to Knuckles, so that their faces were touching. With his unfocused vision, all Knuckles could see was red. Five razor-sharp digits pricked his chest, drawing blood. "I am rather fast."

Two gasps emanated from behind Metal. "I believe the rest of your not-so-merry and not-so-manly band have arrived," it said. It stepped back, and Knuckles panted. Sweat trickled down his quills. Metal stepped to the side, revealing the rest of the sentient inhabitants of the island. Tails and Amy both stood agape, but Cream and Cheese gazed vacantly at the scene, as if the notion of a killer robot that just happened to bear a passing resemblance to a dead organic hero was somehow foreign to them.

"Tails, long time no see," Metal said. Tails scowled back at it. Metal scratched its chin. "Why, the last, and indeed only time we've met would have been that time Eggman tried to use me in a race."

"That was without a doubt the stupidest thing I've ever gotten involved in," Knuckles interjected.

"Agreed." Metal glanced behind Tails, to where Amy was standing. "Amy Rose… you've grown."

Amy stepped back, almost losing her footing. "Get away from me, you monster!" she shouted. Metal shrugged its shoulders.

Cream pointed at Metal. "Wait, you mean this isn't Mister Sonic?" she asked.

"That's right," Knuckles said. "Frankly, I don't have a clue how you could mistake the two. I mean, I can _obviously _understand how you couldn't tell the difference between fur and metal, but you forgot about the lovely green eyes."

"Lovely green eyes?" Metal repeated. "So that's how you feel about my loathsome copy, Miss Rose? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised – people always go for the inferior model that just happens to look a bit better. And of course, I know exactly how he must have felt about you, because I would feel the exact same way in his situation. Still, I'll respect his bizarre wishes, and leave that little revelation a secret."

Knuckles pointed his left fist at Metal. "Look Metal, you're clearly not here to reminisce, so get to the point. Why would Eggman send you here if it wasn't to kill me or swipe the Master Emerald?"

Metal folded its arms across its chest. "Who said that Eggman sent me? Does the idea of a robot with a shred of free will seem foreign to you?" Knuckles nodded. "Well, allow me to explain why I'm here, then. I was created with one purpose: to kill Sonic. Every time I fought him, I would have fulfilled that purpose, had it not been for Eggman's blunders. Time after time, he had to try and take the glory for himself, or use some ridiculously elaborate method instead of the simpler yet more effective means. I can handle that, though. After all, he created me, and he always repaired me after my undeserved defeats. Even when he sealed me away and left me unused for so long, I held onto a thin hope that he was waiting until Sonic was vulnerable, and then he'd let my dreams come true. But Eggman betrayed me."

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"I'm surprised someone of your genius hasn't figured it out, Tails. After all, you and Amy were apparently both there when it happened." Tails' jaw dropped again. Metal nodded. "That's right. When Eggman killed Sonic aboard the ARK, he destroyed the entire reason for my existence. It took over a year for the news to reach me, and it was only through a computer glitch that I was awakened. I'm convinced that fool's forgotten about me. After all, who would need a mere robot like me when they have the Ultimate Life Form?"

Knuckles grinned. "Of course, I should have known," he whispered.

"Better late than never. Sonic is dead, and I can't change that. Therefore, I can't kill Sonic myself, and thus I can't fulfill my purpose. I can, however, do the next best thing – I can kill Shadow. If I can do that without too much trouble, then I'll know that I could have killed Sonic, and that will be almost as good. If I'm not mistaken, it will also be of great help to you lot, so I figure I can get your grudging assistance."

Knuckles scowled. "What the hell do you need us for?"

Metal shrugged. "Simple, really: I need bait."

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Knuckles peered out over the bushes. "Metal, if this plan doesn't work, you're dead," he whispered. "You know that, right?"

Metal lay back against a nearby tree. "Yeah, I'd figured that out," it replied. "But you're out of your mind if you think you can beat me, knucklehead."

Knuckles snarled, and tore a small patch of the bush off. "You're starting to remind me way too much of Sonic."

Tails leapt down from one of the higher branches. "Guys, can you keep it down?" he asked.

Knuckles stretched his tired arms. "Why bother? You're not picking anything up on scanners, are ya?"

Tails shook his head, but frowned as he did so. "Not yet, but that's no reason to go around making noise. Remember, there could be more robots with that new stealth technology, and I'm still not sure if this new upgrade I added to the scanners gets past that."

"Relax," Metal said, "long-range attacks are useless when we've got this much cover, and I'll see any robots with my infra-red vision before they get in close."

"Alright, let's go over the plan one more time," Knuckles said. He looked out into a clearing in the forest, where the Master Emerald stood. The jewel was glowing so brightly that it lit up the entire clearing, even though it was nighttime. "Shadow's going to come to get the Master Emerald. Now how can he not know you're here if he knows the Master Emerald's here?"

Metal pointed towards the clearing. "That clearing is on the outer reaches of Eggman Colony 73-A's scanning range. At that high a range, the power of the Master Emerald overshadows my comparatively low power output. Of course, he'll know you're here through simple logic."

Knuckles nodded. "Okay, but why are me and Tails here? You could have just swiped the Master Emerald and put it here yourself. Why do you need us?"

Metal held up two of its sharp fingers. "Two reasons. First, you've got to remember that I am Sonic in many ways. I have his same stupid sense of honour, so I wouldn't do something underhanded if I didn't have to. Second, and hopefully more importantly, I need you to fight off any backup Shadow might bring."

Knuckles glared at Metal. "You didn't tell me that part before."

Metal shrugged its shoulders. "You never asked."

Knuckles' glare turned into a scowl. "I hate it when I'm outsmarted."

"No wonder you're so angry all the time."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "Well, if you're so smart, mind telling us how you found us in the first place?"

Metal laughed to itself. "Knuckles, I can move at the speed of sound, and I can fly. It didn't take long to figure out a simple path around the world that would allow me to have my sensors cover every part of it in a short time. Frankly, Shadow must be a rank amateur, since he hasn't found you yet."

"Guys," Tails interjected, "we've got a new life form, coming in fast."

"Speak of the devil." Metal rose to its feet. "Are you detecting anything else?" Tails shook his head. "Excellent. You guys can take the Master Emerald as soon as Shadow gets here."

"Good, because he'll be here right about… now." Tails pulled Knuckles down out of sight. Metal followed suit.

There was a faint rustle on the other side of the clearing. Shadow appeared from out of the shadows, and walked into the bright green light. Knuckles couldn't make out much from his cover spot, but he could see that Shadow was walking towards the Master Emerald.

"It begins," Metal said. Knuckles turned to face the robot, but it was already gone.

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Shadow glanced around the clearing. He could see nothing but trees and the Master Emerald. The only sound that he could hear was his own breathing. This was too easy. It was an obvious trap. Knuckles was somewhere in the area, but the longer Shadow stood there, the more time he gave the echidna to prepare. Shadow frowned. It was time to spring the trap.

Shadow pushed off the ground, leaping to the centre of the clearing in a single bound. He rolled into a crouch as he landed. The clearing returned to near-silence. Shadow rose to his feet, and faced the Master Emerald. He squinted to avert its bright green glare. He held his hands out in front of him, and wriggled his fingers. Slowly, he placed both of his hands on the jewel's surface.

Nothing happened. Shadow dared to smirk. He could almost taste his goal. Shadow grunted as he lifted the Master Emerald an inch off the ground. It wasn't going to be easy to get it away, but he could handle it.

"I found you, _faker_," said a cold, artificial voice. Shadow flinched at that last word. There was no way that voice could be what he thought it was. That blue hedgehog was dead. Shadow had seen the capsule explode. Nothing could have survived that blast. Besides, the voice was different. Still, who else would know the importance of that word? Shadow shook such thoughts from his mind. Whatever this phantom was, he would eliminate it quickly.

Shadow gently placed the Master Emerald down. "You never cease to surprise me," he said. He jumped and spun in mid-air, launching a kick straight at where the voice came from. Shadow gasped as his foot collided with nothing but air. As he hit the ground, he looked to his left, and scowled.

"I suppose that surprised you too?" asked the voice. It came from a robot that stood half a dozen metres away from Shadow. Its design bore all too close a resemblance to that blue hedgehog, but its red eyes stood out. He hadn't seen his own reflection in a long time, and that eye colour seemed alien to him as a result.

Shadow stood up straight, and folded his arms across his chest. "Who or what are you?" he asked.

The robot held out one of its claw-like hands, as if it was welcoming someone. "The name's Sonic," he replied, leaving a long silence before adding, "Metal Sonic, although it would be more concise to say that I am your doom. And you can spare me your introduction: Shadow the Hedgehog, the so-called ultimate life form. It's time to see whether the legends about you are true."

Shadow smirked. "They're all true and more. Metal or not, you're mad if you think you can even compare yourself to me. The real Sonic's dead, and you're about to join him."

"In that case, you won't mind if I strike the first blow." Before Shadow could react, Metal leapt through the air and kicked him in the chest. The blow sent him flying into the forest. He hit a tree with a thud, and fell.

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Knuckles' jaw dropped. "Whoa," was all he could manage to say.

Tails had more control over his expression, but even his eyes bulged ever so slightly. "I knew Metal was fast, but not that fast," he whispered.

"Yeah, well I'd love to stay and watch, but I don't even want to risk getting in the way of that weapon of mass destruction." Knuckles ran out into the clearing and grabbed the Master Emerald. He shrank it and slid it under his glove in one swift motion. Darkness covered the forest. Knuckles could only just make out Tails in the thin starlight. "You know, we may never find out what happens in this fight."

Tails shook his head. "That's not quite true. I networked my scanner into Metal's sensors. As long as he's still functioning, we'll get a signal, and we'll be able to pick up Shadow's vital signs."

Knuckles grinned. "Then let's get out of here, and let the bloodbath begin."

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Shadow forced himself to his feet, ignoring his wobbling legs. He groaned as he rubbed his aching temples. He felt like the ARK had just crashed into him. He frowned. Metal was too fast and strong to play around with. It was time to get serious. Shadow blotted out the aching pain, and looked around the forest. Metal was nowhere to be seen.

Shadow walked in no particular direction. A strange feeling compelled him to keep moving, even if he wasn't going where he should be. He was sure he should have felt this feeling before, but he couldn't actually remember feeling it. It was almost as if something deep inside him had been tampered with.

A snap in the distance broke Shadow's trance. He took a sharp intake of air as he whipped his head around to face the sound. There was nothing there. His eyes darted around in an arc, looking for signs of movement, but there was nothing. Shadow let out the breath that he'd been holding, and turned back.

The red eyes almost knocked Shadow off his feet single-handedly. It was only through tensing every muscle in his body that he maintained his composure. Shadow snarled for a moment, but then stopped, and just stared at his opponent. Metal was clearly upside down, but its eyes were level with his own. Shadow looked up, expecting, or perhaps just hoping, to see some sort of cable holding the robot up.

Shadow never saw the kick, but he felt its impact as a metallic foot crunched into the side of his head. He may have cried out in pain, but the veritable explosion inside his head prevented him from hearing anything. Nor did he feel any other pain as his limp body hurtled through the air, snapping tree trunks as if they mere twigs.

Shadow's body went numb. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't die now, not when he was so close to his goal. Shadow's mind went into overdrive as he forced his muscles to clench. Feeling returned to his body. As he smashed through yet another tree, he felt a twinge of pain, and sneered.

The ground was approaching, but just before Shadow hit it, he flung his arms down. As they made contact with grass, he pushed off into a back-flip. He landed on his feet, and slid to a stop. Before he could catch his breath, he saw Metal rocketing towards him.

Shadow pushed off the ground with all the strength his legs could muster. The force propelled him through the forest canopy, and high into the night sky. He launched a powerful burst of fire from the soles of his shoes to stabilise his height. He finally caught the breath he'd been waiting so long to catch.

Shadow frowned. He knew he should try to flee, and come back with a battalion of E-1000s, but what use would it do? Metal would wipe the floor with them in record time, if it even let him get away. If only he'd brought a Chaos Emerald with him. Whatever tricks Knuckles may have had to counter that were nothing compared to what Metal could do. This was one battle that he'd have to fight on his own. It seemed like that was the case with all the battles that truly mattered.

A series of loud snaps resounded as Metal smashed through the forest canopy, heading straight for Shadow. The hedgehog held one foot out in front of him to propel himself backward, and brought the other around in a wide arc. Just as Metal passed by, Shadow's foot should have made contact, but the robot rolled out of the way in midair, scratching his chest. The blood stained his white chest fur.

Shadow snapped his head straight up, to where Metal was even now zipping away. It didn't last, as the robot made a one hundred and eighty degree turn, almost on the spot, and rocketed back towards Shadow. The hedgehog held his arms above his head, and braced for impact.

Metal smashed into Shadow's hands, and the foes hurtled towards the ground. Shadow was on the bottom, and he knew he would come out that way if he didn't do something fast. Acting on instinct, he let go of Metal's head, and leant back as fast as he could. The robot passed right by, and its eyes met Shadow's. Once again, those red lights haunted him. This time, however, he maintained his focus. He grabbed onto Metal's legs as they passed by.

Shadow stopped his fall with his rocket shoes. He then began to spin Metal around by its legs. Blood swirled around in his head. The world became a blur, and the only thing Shadow could make out clearly was his foe. Finally, when he could take no more, he stopped, and let go of Metal. The robot was flung into the forest, where it slid countless metres, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Shadow panted harder than he'd ever panted before. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, something that he couldn't remember feeling since before he was awakened by Eggman. As Shadow caught his breath back, he gazed at the spot where Metal had stopped. He knew this wasn't over yet.

As if on cue, Metal rocketed out of the forest, and to the same height as Shadow. "Not bad, Shadow," Metal said, "not too bad at all. I can see why Knuckles fears you. Unfortunately for you, you're out of your depth, and I'm about to show you just how much."

In a fraction of a second, Metal zipped towards Shadow. It stopped about two feet away. It launched a kick at Shadow's midsection. The hedgehog parried it with a kick of his own, wincing slightly at the pain that soared through his leg. Metal launched a punch, followed by a kick. Shadow blocked them both. Metal accelerated his attack, and Shadow accelerated his defense, until the space between them was a blur of arms and legs.

After a few minutes, Shadow's movements began to slow down. His blocks barely stopped Metal's attacks. Unfortunately for him, the robot's assault was as relentless as ever. With every blow, Shadow fell back a little bit more, but Metal kept moving.

Finally, the hedgehog lost his balance, and Metal slipped past his defenses. Shadow gasped as a punch to his abdomen knocked the wind out of him. Metal withdrew, but a split second later, he kicked Shadow in the back, edging its foot between his quills. Shadow plummeted to the ground without any further protest. He hit the ground with a loud thud, spreading dust everywhere.

Shadow may have blacked out for a few moments. When he came to, the dust had cleared, and he was lying on his stomach in the crater he'd left. He swayed as he rose to his feet, ignoring the aching pain in his entire body. He looked around, and saw that he was on the edge of the same clearing that he'd been in before, but now the Master Emerald was gone. Metal was in the centre of the clearing, scratching its nose and looking at Shadow.

"It seems the echidna's run off with the Master Emerald," Shadow said.

Metal lowered its arms to its sides. "Yeah, I didn't think he would, either. It seems that he's getting smarter. Not that that's saying much."

Shadow clenched his fists. "You're going to pay for making me lose the Master Emerald."

Metal laughed. "You've gotta be kidding me. Shadow, you can't win. Even if you could keep up with me, I'd last way longer than you. Metal always outlasts flesh and bone, _faker._"

Shadow grinned. He was sure he'd just found Metal's weak spot. "Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake."

For a moment, all was silent. Then, Metal laughed again. "You tried that because it worked on Sonic, didn't you?" Shadow flinched. "Fortunately, I've seen you fight, and I know I can beat you. I'm guessing Sonic didn't, regardless of whether or not he could have."

Shadow scowled. "I'm just getting warmed up."

Once again, Metal laughed. It held its arms out wide, leaving itself open to attack. "Go ahead, Shadow, hit me with everything you've got."

Shadow charged at Metal, and launched a punch at the robot. It hit with a clang, but Metal didn't even back away. Shadow held his stinging fist. He then launched a flurry of kicks at his foe. Metal backed away a bit under the blows, but they still didn't so much as scratch its surface.

Shadow leapt back a dozen metres, to the edge of the clearing. "Giving up already?" Metal asked. "But I was enjoying your feeble attempts to resist your inevitable doom."

Shadow crouched. "Play time is over," he whispered. He rolled up into a ball, and began to spin on the spot at a massive speed. He was sure that Metal was too arrogant to move, and that's just what he needed.

Finally, Shadow launched his compact form right at Metal. A fraction of a second later, he hit with a loud clang that echoed through the forest. Metal was knocked away, smashing through dozens of trees. Shadow flung himself up into the air, where he stopped spinning, and managed to land safely on the ground.

Shadow stared into the now pitch-black forest. He could neither see nor hear anything from its midst. For nearly a minute, all was still, and Shadow dared to hope that it was over. Then, those red eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by the sound of footsteps. Metal stepped out of the darkness and into the faint light of the clearing. Its paint had been mostly worn away, but other than that, it had sustained no damage.

Shadow shook his head in disbelief as Metal walked towards him. "It's time to end this, Shadow," it said. Where its voice had occasionally been almost light-hearted before, there was no doubt that it was as cold as the darkest region of space now. Shadow knew that he had only one chance left. There was one point in the fight when he'd truly held the edge, and it was time to head back to that point.

When Metal was two feet away from Shadow, it lunged its hands straight at his head. Shadow grabbed the robot's hands, but before he could do anything, it began to push with incredible force. Shadow pushed back with all his strength. A deadlock was soon reached. Shadow began to sweat, but he wasn't going to give in. He couldn't let himself fail now.

Metal laughed once again, but Shadow didn't falter this time. The robot twisted his hands down sharply. There were two loud snaps, and Shadow roared in agony. Metal let go, and the hedgehog dropped to his knees. He felt like his arms were about to fall off, and when he looked at them, he realised that they looked like it too. His forearms were bent in the middle at unnatural angles, and Shadow thought he saw some bone there. He closed his eyes, but it made little difference. The pain had blinded him.

The pain was so intense that Shadow barely noticed when he was kicked in the head. It was a comparatively light blow, but it was enough to send him flying into a tree. He hit it with a thud, but before he could fall to the ground, he was grabbed by the throat. Shadow opened his eyes, and even with his blurry vision, he could still see the red eyes of Metal.

"It's been fun, Shadow," Metal said, "but the time has definitely come for me to finish this. You took away my purpose when you helped Eggman to kill Sonic, but as soon as I kill you, the record will be set straight." Shadow tried to console himself by thinking that he at least knew what this maniac's purpose was, but it didn't help in the slightest.

The pain in Shadow's arms was starting to fade now, and was replaced by numbness, although he still couldn't do much more than wriggle them. There were definitely advantages to being the Ultimate Life Form, but it didn't mean he couldn't be hurt. Still, Shadow could now see clearly again, and only a few metres behind Metal, he saw faint footprints in the grass. They certainly weren't made by shoes or paws, and they certainly weren't Metal's.

"Any last words, Shadow?" Metal asked.

Shadow grinned. "Just a few," he replied. "Now, Mu!"

Metal hesitated for a moment, and that was all it took. In an instant, its legs were blasted off. As Metal fell, it let go of Shadow, and he collapsed. The wounded robot spun as it fell, before firing its rear thrusters at full power. The flames missed Shadow by mere inches. Metal rocketed towards the spot where the last footprints were. A second shot tore off the back of its head, but nothing could stop its suicide charge.

There was a loud crash as Metal tore through what appeared to be thin air. As Metal hit the ground, a new robot appeared out of that very same air, with a massive hole through its chest. The new robot, E-111 Mu, collapsed and exploded. Shadow shielded himself from the shrapnel, but he still got singed. There were more important things to him now than this trifling pain, though.

Shadow rose to his feet, and limped around the wreckage of Mu. He could just make out what was left of Metal. It was trying to claw itself away from the clearing, but it was barely making any progress. Shadow smirked. He was going to enjoy this.

Shadow soon caught up with Metal, and placed his foot on what was left of its head. "Game over, Metal," Shadow said.

"You bastard," Metal replied. "You couldn't even accept defeat, you little worm. Some ultimate life form you are."

"I did what I needed to do to win."

"And that's why Sonic will always be better than you. At least he has some principles."

Shadow sneered. "Well, you can talk about principles with him in hell all you want."

"Regardless of where I wind up, Sonic's not in hell. You're the one who's going there."

Shadow closed his eyes. "You don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Maybe not, but I'd still rather be me than you."

Shadow shrugged, and opened his eyes. "Your choice, although I don't know why you'd think it. After all, I'm up here, wounded but still alive." Shadow raised his foot. "And as for you - "

Shadow brought his foot down, crushing Metal's head. The robot's red eyes faded away.

" - you're dead."

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Knuckles stamped his foot so hard, the whole cabin shook. "You've gotta be kidding!" he shouted. "There's no way that scanner's showing the right thing."

Tails shook his agape head. "All I know is that I'm not getting a signal from Metal anymore," he replied, "and I can't think of any way we could have lost the signal other than that Metal got destroyed."

"But you said he had Shadow on the ropes!"

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I said, but I don't see how Metal could have lost, either. I guess Shadow must have pulled something out of nowhere."

Knuckles barged out of the cabin, muttering profanities under his breath. He passed by Amy, Cream, and Cheese without saying a word. As he neared the shrine, he picked up a rock from the ground, and hurled it towards the horizon. He scowled at the rock as it passed over the edge of the island. With a sigh, he began a long trudge up the steps.

Knuckles nearly collapsed as he sat down on the top step. He ran his hands through his quills, pulling them until he was sure they'd break off. With one last primal roar, he fell back onto the cold, hard surface of the shrine. He stared up at the fading stars, and wondered how it all went wrong.

Knuckles had been so sure that today was a turning point. He'd been certain that today was the day things would finally start to go right for him. How did it go wrong? He'd seen it with his own eyes – Metal had Shadow outclassed in every possible field. Yet Shadow was the one who would live to tell the tale of their fight, though Knuckles doubted that the hedgehog was the talkative type.

Everything seemed so much harder to Knuckles now. If Shadow could defeat Metal, what chance did he have? Knuckles hadn't even been able to hit Metal, let alone do any damage to him, and yet his toughest enemy may just have proven himself worthy of his title. What chance did Knuckles have against the Ultimate Life Form? He hated to admit it, but he had been relying on Metal to ease his concerns.

As the first rays of sunlight lit up the sky, Knuckles realised the problem – he _had _been relying on Metal. That was the problem that had held him back ever since he'd returned from the ARK. Ever since then, he'd never recaptured the independence that he'd possessed before those terrible events. Because of that, he'd had to be saved by others time and time again. Tails, Amy, Rouge, GUN, and now Metal; he'd relied upon them all. As long as he relied upon them, he could never win.

Knuckles stood up, and stared at the rising sun. It was the start of a new day, and he swore that he would treat it as such. The time had come for him to forge his own destiny.

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Next chapter: Knuckles heads into a heavily guarded city alone, hoping to find some parts that Tails needs to upgrade his scanners and locate the echidnas of Nachide. Little does Knuckles know that Eggman has enlisted the help of a creature claiming to be the world's greatest assassin. With no backup and no way out, can Knuckles survive against a deadly new threat? Find out in Chapter 8: City of Death.


	9. City of Death

**Chapter 8: City of Death**

Shadow winced as the medical robot set his right forearm back in place. The left arm was already wrapped in plaster, making the limb almost impossible to move. As the robot began wrapping the right arm up, Shadow glanced around the sick bay. It hadn't been used in over 50 years, and it showed. Dust had gathered everywhere, and a few of the machines had become so clogged that they'd stopped working. The medical robot was one of a kind, and had only treated Eggman before. If anyone else ever needed medical attention, they were reminded of the unofficial motto of the Eggman Empire: "The weak must die off to make room for the strong".

Those details didn't bother Shadow in the slightest, but he was troubled. The room brought back far too many memories of Maria. When she was alive, she'd been in the sick bay far too often, owing to the terrible disease that had afflicted her in her life. He was supposed to have been the cure, but instead those vile humans had taken away that purpose. Of course, they'd left him with a new, grimmer purpose: revenge.

"Operation complete," the robot said. Shadow didn't even bother to look at his right arm. Instead, he sat up and got off the bed. He'd always hated lying down.

The door to the sick bay hissed as it opened. Eggman walked through. World domination didn't seem to have changed him that much, at least on the outside. He had put on a bit more weight, but with the amount he had, a little more was barely noticeable. His moustache wasn't quite as bushy as it once was, but it was still recognisable. His clothes hadn't changed at all.

Eggman raised his arms. "Ah, Shadow!" he said, though his features didn't portray any joy. "I trust you're feeling better?"

Shadow frowned. Why did Eggman insist on pretending that they actually cared at all about each other? "What I feel is irrelevant," he replied. "It's what I can do that matters, and right now, I am limited in what I can do."

Eggman stroked his chin, and nodded. "Yes, it is unfortunate that Metal Sonic had to have such terrible timing." He shrugged. "Still, who'd have guessed it was so powerful? Truth be told, I'd abandoned the project years ago after its countless failures, but now I wished I hadn't."

Shadow had a hunch that it was actually Eggman's fault that Metal Sonic had constantly failed, but he didn't voice it. "Sonic is dead, so Metal Sonic was pointless anyway."

Eggman grinned. "Oh, I'm sure I could have found a use for it."

A chill ran down Shadow's spine. Over the past year, it had grown harder and harder to tell what Eggman was thinking. "Regardless, I'll be back to full strength in a few days. I heal much quicker than any mere human."

Eggman raised his index figure. "Yes, well, while your healing ability is truly spectacular, I'm afraid those are a few days we simply cannot afford to lose. Since Knuckles destroyed Lambda, it's possible that Tails was able to hack into its memory core, if that survived the blast. If that's the case, then they know far too much about my plans."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said that they'd have a few words at most."

Eggman frowned, and stood rigid. "That's far too much. I must therefore have Knuckles eliminated, and quickly."

Shadow tried to clench his fists, but found that the plaster made that impossible. He resisted the urge to grit his teeth, as that was far too obvious. "I told you, I'll be able to get back on the job in a few days. Isn't that good enough?"

"Frankly, no. I cannot allow my enemies a moment's peace. Therefore, I've turned to another individual to handle Knuckles."

Shadow didn't like where the conversation was going. "Another individual?"

"Yes, someone who claims to be the world's greatest assassin. While I doubt the accuracy of that claim, his record is sound. I'm confident that he'll at least slow Knuckles down. You can rest easy Shadow." Shadow doubted that claim. Something in Eggman's pockets beeped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to. The guardian of the Chaos Stream won't find itself you know." Eggman left the room, and the door closed behind him.

Shadow was in trouble, and he knew it. Any hope he had of fulfilling his own plans was reliant on him remaining useful to Eggman. If Knuckles was killed by someone other than himself, that use would be gone. Metal Sonic was proof of what happened to supposedly useless henchmen. Shadow had to remain useful, but how? For now, there was nothing he could do. His fate was in Knuckles' hands. "Stay alive, Knuckles," he whispered. He had never thought he'd find himself saying that.

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Knuckles eyed the abandoned warehouse. Dilapidated didn't even begin to describe it. Most of the paint had peeled off the walls. There wasn't a single window intact. The roof had been torn off by something a long time ago. There wasn't even a door, just a rectangular empty space that could be walked through with relative ease. It didn't look like it could contain anything of value, but his sources had led him here, and it was as good a place to look as any.

Knuckles pulled the fringe of his hood down over his eyes, and wrapped his cloak tightly around his body. Even in this desolate part of the city, there were wanted signs bearing his face on every building, and even in the middle of the night, someone could get a look at something and discover his identity. He picked up a full sack from the ground, and held it under his cloak. That stash would surely attract attention if he didn't conceal it.

After taking a quick look to make sure that there was no one around, Knuckles walked through the hole in the wall, and into the warehouse. It was pitch black inside. He felt his way through the darkness, eventually reaching what he thought must be the middle of the single room that made up the ground floor. He remained perfectly still, listening for any sound. The room was silent. Knuckles took a deep breath, and said, "To be, or not to be." It was what he'd been told to say. It didn't stop him from feeling like an idiot.

"That is the question," said a voice. Instantly, the room filled with light, blinding Knuckles. Out of instinct, he dropped the sack, and raised his hands to cover his eyes. As his vision returned, he realised his mistake, and quickly brought his hands back under the cloak. On the opposite side of the room from the entrance, there was a makeshift desk. A chubby, balding, unshaven man sat behind it. In his hand, he held a rifle, which was pointed straight at Knuckles.

"I'm really getting tired of this situation," Knuckles muttered, but the sound seemed to carry with unnatural efficiency.

The man recoiled slightly, but kept a firm grip on the rifle. "Really? I don't recall dealing with you before."

Knuckles shook his head, though the motion remained unseen. "Nah, the other time was from someone completely different."

The man nodded. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"Hang on, I'll get the list." Knuckles put his hand into sack and pulled out a slip of paper. He held it up to his eyes, while still managing to keep most of his hand and face hidden. "Okay, I want a… a… a…" He shook his head, and lowered his hand. "You know what, I can't even pronounce this stuff. I'm getting the stuff for a friend of mine, and it's all technical gibberish." He knew the items would upgrade Tails' scanners, in an attempt to find the echidnas of Nachide, but that was all. Knuckles needed information on the Chaos Stream, and if anyone knew about that stuff, it would be them.

"Why didn't he come and get it?"

"Well, let's just say I hate to rely on others."

The man frowned, and was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, "Alright, bring it over. You can't pull a fast one on me when you're that slow." Knuckles clenched his fists, but remained silent. He strode over to the desk, which he could barely see over. "Gee, you're a short guy, aren't you?" Knuckles responded merely by putting the piece of paper on the desk. The man put his rifle down, but in such a way so that it was still pointed at Knuckles' head. The man's eyes skimmed down the list.

"Well, can you help me?"

"Maybe, but first I've got to know how you'll be paying for this."

Knuckles kept his head hung low. "I don't have money, but I heard you might be willing to do a trade."

The man made a snide laugh to himself. "I doubt it. The stuff you're wanting doesn't come cheap. I really doubt you've got enough stuff in that sack of yours, unless it's filled with jewels."

"Not quite." Knuckles held the sack over the desk. He regretted that he had to put his distinctive hand in the open to do that, but the man would soon have something else on his mind. Knuckles tipped the bag upside down. Two dozen packets of cigarettes spilled out onto the desk. "I've heard this stuff fetches a decent price nowadays."

The man's jaw dropped, and he sputtered incoherently for a moment. He cleared his throat, and assumed a stern demeanour. "Where did you get this merchandise?"

"Let's just say I have friends in low places." The cigarettes had come in the shipment of supplies from GUN. Knuckles hadn't seen what possible use that poison could have, until that moment. "Will it be enough?"

The man picked up a packet and stroked it with his quivering hands. He put the cigarettes down, and became still. "Yeah, it will do brilliantly – I mean it will pass." Knuckles grinned, though he knew his face remained unseen. He'd oversupplied, but he'd be glad to get rid of the cigarettes. Amy had been constantly afraid that Cream would find them and consume them. He had pointed out that Cream would be more likely to notice the capsule containing the frozen corpse of her mother, but that hadn't exactly improved the situation.

The man stood up. He tried to look at Knuckles, but his eyes kept darting down to the packets on the desk. "I'll go get you the stuff," the man managed to say. He pressed a panel on the wall behind him, and a hidden door opened. Knuckles could just make out some stairs behind it. The man turned on the spot, and ran down the stairs.

Knuckles shook his head. He'd never understand people. It seemed like he fought every day just to stay alive, and yet some people willingly poisoned themselves. Maybe they didn't know any better. Maybe they just lacked a reason to live. That would be the greatest tragedy of all. Even with all his hardships, Knuckles had something to fight for. It was a hopeless goal, but it was something to put his mind towards every day, and that was enough.

The man came rushing back up the stairs, carrying a full bag. He handed it over to Knuckles, who swiftly stowed it in the sack that he still held in his right hand. "Thanks," Knuckles said.

"No worries," the man replied. He opened up one of the packets, and pulled out a cigarette. He popped it in his mouth, and pulled out a lighter from his pocket. He flipped the cap open, and a flame appeared. He put the flame to the cigarette, and let out a contented sigh.

Knuckles sighed too, but there was no content as he shook his head. He turned away, and walked to the door. The lights turned off, and Knuckles was once again left in darkness as he left the warehouse, and stepped out into the cold night. He turned to his right, and began to walk down the street. He didn't want to spend another minute in the city. He'd burrowed in past the outer defence walls, and he wasn't sure how long the tunnel would last. The last thing he wanted was to be trapped.

The streets were empty, and this only added to Knuckles' worries. It was rare for there to be lots of people around, but there were usually a few: beggars, wanderers, even the occasional street gang. No one was around now. Something or someone must have driven them away, but what or who?

Knuckles unconsciously sped up, until he was walking at well over twice his normal speed. A gust of wind blew by, chilling him to the bone, but he didn't slow down. In spite of the cold, a trickle of sweat ran down his brow. His fingers wriggled irritably in his gloves. What was it that had him so worried? For once, he'd come into this city fully prepared. He wasn't going to take on Eggman's forces. His only goal was to get in, get the stuff, and get out. It should have been easy, and it had been so far. What was the problem?

Knuckles got his answer with a loud clank behind him. That was all he needed to hear. Someone was following him. He kept walking for a few moments, not wanting to give that knowledge away to his stalker. He was only a couple of blocks away from his escape tunnel. He had no idea what sort of foe he could wind up fighting. The solution was obvious.

Without warning, Knuckles broke into a sprint. He wasn't as fast as Sonic or Shadow, but he could still outrun any car, and thus any pursuer that wasn't Shadow. If it was the black hedgehog, then Knuckles knew he was in trouble anyway. Within half a minute, he had reached the alley where he'd entered the city. He turned, and sped down it. He screeched to a halt as he saw a whole new problem.

The tunnel was gone. It had been filled in with dirt. Knuckles didn't have his shovel claws on him, for fear that they could set off some sort of metal detector. He could dig a tunnel himself, as he had done in the first place, but it would take far longer than he'd wanted. First, though, he wanted to know who had done this.

Knuckles turned on the spot, just in time to see a shuriken headed straight for his head. He sidestepped the projectile, but it cut through the thin string that held his cloak together. The garment fell to the ground. A gasp emanated from the right wall of the alley. Knuckles dropped his sack. He knew he was crazy, but he leapt at the right wall and ran along it. He barged into something that he couldn't see, sending both it and himself plummeting to the ground.

Knuckles rolled and wrestled with his invisible opponent. Knuckles was far stronger, and managed to pin his unseen foe to the ground with his left arm. He held his right fist menacingly over surprisingly dangerous thin air. "Alright, you fancy giving me your E-number now, or should I just destroy you and find out that way?" he asked. It was the only explanation Knuckles could think of for his foe's invisibility. A gagging noise defied that logic. "What are you? Show yourself!"

There was a rippling effect as Knuckles' foe became visible, revealing the form of a young, male, purple chameleon. His horn was broken, and it looked like it had been for a long time. As the chameleon's eyelids opened, they revealed a pair of yellow irises that shook Knuckles to his core.

On instinct, Knuckles leapt to his feet and backed up against the wall. It took him a moment to catch his breath. "Espio?" he whispered. He'd met and rescued Espio before. The chameleon had then helped him stop one of Eggman's plots.

Espio groaned as he rose to his feet. "It's been a while, Knuckles," he replied.

Knuckles returned to his senses, and raised his fists. He scowled. "That's not generally the first thing you say to someone after you've tried to kill them."

Espio bent over, and panted heavily. With one hand, he clutched his stomach, and he held up the other in a feeble attempt at defence. He raised his head, showing the grimace on his face. "Knuckles, you have to trust me, I had no idea that you were my target. I'm not one to forget a debt so quickly."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow, but it swiftly dropped again. "Your target? You do this sort of thing often?" The pair of katana strapped across Espio's back seemed to back up that suspicion.

Espio nodded in between gasps. "You could say that. If you must know, I'm an assassin now."

Knuckles clenched his fists even tighter, and gritted his teeth. He'd had quite enough of assassins recently. "So what, you just go around killing people for money? Aren't you ninjas supposed to have some sort of code of honour or something?"

"You think I wanted to do this? I was fine just running a detective agency with Vector and Charmy."

Knuckles relaxed slightly, and a bemused expression spread across his face. "Vector and Charmy? You joined up with those two? Why?"

Espio shrugged. "Two heads are better than one, and Charmy can fly, so that makes up for his lack of brains. As for Vector, he's smarter than he seems."

"So why aren't you still doing that?"

Espio frowned. "No market for it. Everyone's involved in crime now, so no one wants the crimes solved. There are still people who want others dead, though."

"That's no excuse to do it."

Espio's frown turned to a glare. "I'm just trying to keep myself and my friends alive. You'd do the same thing."

Knuckles unknowingly copied Espio's expression. "I wouldn't betray everything I stood for. Your whole life was supposed to be about honour, and it ain't anymore."

Espio rose to his feet. "I still have that honour. You want me to prove it?" Knuckles nodded. "Then follow me, and we'll try and track down my client."

"Who's your client?" Knuckles asked. He sure the trail would lead back to Eggman eventually, but he wasn't sure who was doing the dirty work. Shadow seemed unlikely, since he was more than a match for Knuckles, anyway. Besides, Shadow wanted the Master Emerald, and Knuckles didn't have that with him. Shadow was smart enough to know that risk. He'd be looking for the Master Emerald, not its guardian.

"I don't know. Vector's the one who handles the administrative stuff. We'll be able to get the info out of him." Espio walked towards the street. Knuckles didn't budge. Espio turned back. "Don't worry, Knuckles, Vector wouldn't have taken the job if he knew you were the target, and he'll drop it when he finds out the truth." Espio walked out onto the street. Knuckles picked up his cloak, tied it up again, and put the hood over his head. He picked up his sack, and followed Espio.

Espio turned, and walked in the opposite direction to the way they'd come. Knuckles followed a few steps behind. He still didn't trust Espio entirely, and he hated himself for it. The chameleon was his friend. There should be trust between them, but until Knuckles knew more, that could never be. He hated to admit it, but he wished Tails was with him right now. It would help to ease his nerves.

Knuckles and Espio walked through the city. Knuckles memorised the route they'd taken. While his escape route had been compromised, he was sure it was still the best chance he had of getting out of a tight spot if one arose. After all, dirt was a lot easier to dig through than pavement.

People slowly began to move back onto the street. A few nodded at Espio, not seeming at all concerned by the fact that he wasn't human. Knuckles had no idea what had suddenly drawn the people back onto the street. "I'd paid those people to keep off the street around the time I was inadvertently hunting you," Espio said, as if he'd read Knuckles' mind.

A scrawny, malnourished boy dressed in rags walked past, and took an all-too-long look at Knuckles. Espio gripped the handle of one of his katana, and shook his head. The boy gulped, and kept walking. Knuckles walked up beside Espio. "Looks like you've developed a reputation around here," the echidna whispered into his ear.

"Yeah, well we're right near our headquarters, so it's not surprising." As if on cue, Espio turned and walked down a dark alley. Knuckles followed, and looked up. A shabby sign at the end of the alley read, 'Chaotix'. The words 'Detective Agency' had been crossed out with a single line of black paint. "Home, sweet home," Espio mocked.

The door squeaked as Espio pushed it inwards. He and Knuckles walked inside, to be greeted by a pistol being pointed at them. "Why does everyone in this town do that?" Knuckles whispered to himself. The pistol was being held by a bulky crocodile with light green scales and a yellow underbelly. A pair of headphones sat on his head. He looked a little dirtier and grimmer than the last time Knuckles had seen him.

"Hey, Vector," Espio said. Vector nodded, and lowered the pistol. Espio turned to a newspaper that appeared to be standing on its own. "Hey, Charmy."

"Aw, nuts!" said a high-pitched voice. The newspaper slipped down to reveal the form of a very young male bee. His trademark shirt had grown a little worn, and he looked a bit older, but he was still recognisable. Knuckles grinned as he remembered the mischief Charmy had always gotten up to. "I was trying to master that way of invisibleness thing you're always talking about."

Espio grimaced, and shook his head. "The word is invisibility, and you failed because I could hear your breathing. The way of invisibility also includes the way of silence, which does rather limit your potential as a ninja."

Charmy pouted, and Knuckles took the moment of silence to glance around the room. To put it simply, it was a dump. The wallpaper was peeling, and some unnatural stench filled the room. Vector sat behind a desk that was so covered in papers that he could have hidden all sorts of weapons under there and no one would ever have found them. The sofa that Charmy sat on had holes all over its surface. Some had been patched up, but many more hadn't. An old TV sat on a wooden crate in the corner, but Knuckles wasn't sure if it was still working. A fan whirred noisily as it spun around on the ceiling.

Vector coughed to draw everyone's attention. "Okay, Espio, two questions," he said. "First, how did the mission go, and second, who the hell is that guy with you?"

"Actually, I'll answer both those questions," Knuckles replied. He pulled back his hood to reveal his face. Vector and Charmy gasped.

"Knuckles!" Vector shouted gleefully. He leapt out of his chair with unnatural speed, and was soon shaking Knuckles' hand vigorously. "Great to see you again! What brings you to this dump-filled berg? Shouldn't you be guarding that giant emerald of yours, or did you finally realise that you could sell it for a wad of cash?"

Knuckles frowned. "I'm still guarding the Master Emerald, as I will for the rest of my life. I was in town to pick up some supplies. As for what brings me here specifically, Espio brought me… after he tried to kill me."

Vector let go of Knuckles' hand, and leapt back. He collided with the desk, sending half a dozen pieces of paper flying. He panted, and stroked his snout. "I have a bad feeling about where this discussion's going."

Espio frowned. "You should," he said. "It turns out Knuckles was the target."

"Oh croc." Vector held his arms out in front of him, forcing Knuckles to keep his distance. "Look, Knuckles, I did not know that. You have to believe me. There are loads of things I'd do for money, but not that."

Knuckles folded his arms across his chest, and stared Vector down. He could see fear in Vector's expression, but not the sort he generally associated with lies. Still, there was only one way to make sure. "If you really mean that, then you'll tell me who the client was." Vector's eyes darted around the room, and he twiddled his thumbs. "Vector, tell me. Now."

Vector sighed. "I didn't get a name, but it was a robot."

Knuckles scowled. "You do realise that there's only one guy who sends out robots to do his bidding, right?"

Vector nodded. "I know, I know: Eggman. You don't have to tell me that stuff. I live in this world. I know how things work around here."

Knuckles clenched his fists. "So you willingly accepted a job from Eggman?"

"If you must know, yes, but you should have seen the paycheck he offered. It's huge. Even more than the reward they're offering for your head, although I didn't make the connection at the time."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. "And that makes it right to work for a bloody dictator?"

"Knuckles, I don't think you quite understand what it's like. Ever since Eggman came to power, we've been living on the edge of poverty."

Knuckles stamped his foot, cracking a floorboard. "And things will be like that forever if guys like you cave into every demand that Eggman makes! You want that?" He walked towards Vector. "Do you?" Knuckles batted Vector's outstretched arms away. "Do you?" With a roar, Knuckles punched Vector, sending the crocodile right through his desk and into the wall. Vector collapsed in a heap with his eyes screwed shut.

Espio grabbed Knuckles's arms from behind. "Calm down, Knuckles," Espio whispered. "This isn't solving anything." Knuckles relaxed his body, and Espio let go. The chameleon returned to Knuckles' side. "Look, Vector, we'll judge our lifestyle later. For now, let's get this robot off Knuckles' back. Tell us where we can find the robot."

Vector groaned as he rose to his feet. He swayed slightly, but managed to keep his balance. He was tough, and Knuckles knew this. If he hadn't, then he might not have acted so rashly. Vector clutched his chest, and opened his eyes. They promptly bulged until it looked like they would pop out of their sockets. "Oh no," he whispered. His knees wobbled.

"Oh yes, Vector," Knuckles said. "Tell us where the robot is, or I'll make you feel some real pain. I don't wanna do it, but you're hardly one to talk about methods."

Vector pointed at Knuckles, or it may have been beyond. "Behind you!"

Knuckles screamed as two sharp objects sliced through his cloak, past the fur on his back, and tore through his skin. The cuts weren't deep, but they hurt a lot. Even that pain was nothing compared to what he felt a split second later, as a sharp stinging pain spread through his body. It nearly felled him, but he managed to remain standing. His body grew numb as he turned on the spot.

Knuckles' vision blurred, and all he could see before him was a fuzzy black shape. He'd seen enough of Eggman's robots before to recognise one, though. He took a step towards his foe, but his legs buckled, and he fell to his knees. As he looked up, he saw Espio, katana in hand, leap at the robot. The ninja sliced the robot's head off with a single stroke. He followed it up with two more slashes that left the robot in pieces on the floor.

Using all his remaining strength, Knuckles rose to his feet. His body gave out on him, and he fell backwards. He hit the ground with a thud, but he felt nothing. His whole body had lost all feeling. He thought he heard a voice cry out to him. Whoever the voice belonged to, they were too far away to help him. As Knuckles gazed at the spinning fan, his vision began to spin with it, until all his vision became a white blur.

In an instant, white turned to black.

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Espio rushed to Knuckles' side. The echidna lay sprawled on the floor. His eyes were shut, and his mouth hung limply open. Espio put a finger to Knuckles' wrist. The pulse was faint, but still present. The echidna's breaths were long but shallow. He was still alive, though, and for that, Espio was grateful.

Espio rolled Knuckles onto his stomach, and ripped the cloak off. The echidna's back was a mess. The wounds weren't deep, but the fluids that had leaked from them had stained his skin yellow. The wounds were fresh, but already they had scabbed over. Ordinarily, Espio would be grateful for that, but the scabs weren't ordinary. They weren't red like normal scabs, or even scarlet – they were pitch black.

Charmy, with tears in his eyes, hovered over Knuckles' limp form. Vector edged towards the group. His body quivered, which was rare. "Is he… is he…" he whispered.

"He's alive," Espio replied. He frowned. "But something's not right here." He pointed to the wounds on Knuckles' back. "These wounds aren't deep. Knuckles should have been able to take them. And the colouring's not natural, either."

Vector frowned, but his wide eyes suggested fear as much as anything else. "So what, you think he's been poisoned or something?"

"Well, technically I think it would be a venom rather than a poison, but yeah."

Vector threw his arms up in exasperation. "So what do we do?"

"Well, remain calm for a start." Vector dropped his arms and took some deep breaths. "Knuckles must have an ally we can contact."

"Wasn't there another guy on his wanted posters?" Charmy asked, pushing back his tears.

"Yeah, I think he was called Tails," Vector said, "or maybe it was Miles." He scratched his snout. "But how can we get in contact with him?"

Espio pointed at a strange device strapped to Knuckles' wrist. "Maybe with that?"

Vector leaned over to get a better look. "I have no idea what that is."

Espio shrugged. "We'll soon find out." He pressed a button on the device. A faint series of crackles emanated from it. Espio grabbed Knuckles' limp wrist and held the device up to his mouth. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was a moment of silence. Finally, a youthful but masculine voice said, "Who is this?"

"The name's Espio, and I'm a frie - acquaintance of Knuckles."

Another moment of silence. "I don't know anyone named Knuckles." There was a faint quiver in the boy's voice.

Espio gritted his teeth. "Look, Tails or Miles or whatever your name is, we know you know Knuckles. We've got Knuckles here, and he's in really bad shape. We need your help."

The boy chuckled, but the quiver in his voice was even more audible now. Whoever he was, he wasn't a good actor. "I'm telling you, I don't know anyone named Knuckles. I think I'd remember a name that weird."

Espio growled. "Look, if we don't do something soon, he's gonna die! You really want to deal with a friend's death? You really want to live with the thought that if you'd lived your life just a little bit differently, he might not have had to die? I'm looking at that thought right now, and trust me, it sucks! Now are you gonna help or not?"

Espio thought he heard a sob on the other end, but it was gone in an instant. "Yeah, I know that feeling, and you're right: it's not good at all. I've got a fix on the communicator's position right now, so just stay where you are, and I'll be there within ten minutes."

"How will we know it's you?"

"Trust me, there's a reason they call me Tails." With those words, the line went dead. Espio sighed, and closed his eyes. How had this happened? How had he become nothing but a pawn in Eggman's diabolical game of chess? He'd betrayed what he stood for, and now Knuckles was suffering for his mistake. Espio's sensei would surely be rolling in his grave.

Espio opened his eyes, and shook his head. He rose to his feet. He turned his head, and glared at the remains of the accursed robot. Espio turned back, and grabbed Knuckles feet. He dragged the echidna's limp form to the sofa. "Vector, find some softer bedding, and soak a few towels in cold water, just in case this venom gives Knuckles a fever." With a quick show of strength, Espio flipped Knuckles onto the sofa. The echidna now lay on his back, and Espio was forced to look upon the face of the one he'd hurt.

In the short time they' spent together years ago, Espio and Knuckles had gotten to know each other quite well. Although their methods of thinking and fighting were different, their spirits were the same. Within each of them burned the fire of a warrior. Espio knew that it would be his fault if that fire within Knuckles was put out. It felt worse than hurting a friend – it felt like he'd hurt a brother.

Charmy sat down on the arm of the sofa. Through his tears, he gazed down at Knuckles. "What have we done?" Charmy asked.

Espio knew that he should say something profound, or at least something that would make Charmy feel better, but his mind couldn't come up with anything. There was only one thing he could say: "That's what I'm wondering."

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Ten minutes later, a loud thud from the alley shook the room. Vector leapt out of his seat. Charmy ducked for cover behind the sofa. Espio opened his eyes, and rose to his feet. "Um, who invited the heavy artillery?" Vector asked.

Espio frowned. "It could be the kid," he replied.

Vector stared at Espio. "If it's the kid, he's huge, and should have a way higher price on his head than Knuckles does."

"I'll check it out. You two stay here, and try not to do anything stupid." Espio shuddered as his body turned invisible. It had always been an unpleasant experience, but that night it seemed even worse. Espio walked out of the room, and into the dark alley.

Espio could just make out a silhouette in the alley that had not been there before. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was sure it wasn't natural. That could mean only one thing. With his right hand, Espio pulled a shuriken from the holster on his left wrist. His left hand gripped the handle of one of his katana. He was about to attack when he saw something move in the silhouette. Something leapt out of the top. Espio drew his katana, silently cursing the subtle noise it made. The smaller silhouette paused for a moment. He held up an object, and flicked a switch.

Espio was blinded by a bright light. He managed to hold onto his katana, but the shuriken fell to the ground with a clatter. As his eyes adjusted to the light, the silhouette became clearer. It took the form of a young male fox. Espio flinched when he saw that the fox had two tails, but then let out a sigh of relief. "Tails, I presume?" Espio asked.

The fox leapt back a foot. "Who said that?" he asked. "Who's there?"

Espio scratched his head with his right hand, and sheathed his katana with the left. He'd forgotten he was still invisible. He repressed another shudder as he became visible again. The fox leapt back another foot. "The name's Espio, and you were right: there's a very good reason they call you Tails."

The fox sighed. "Well, I don't really like my real name. Still, I can see there's a reason you're called Espio."

"About time someone figured that out."

Tails frowned. "Can I see Knuckles?"

Espio nodded, and pointed to the open door. "Come in. I should warn you, though, it's not a pleasant sight." Espio walked through the doorway, and Tails followed. Vector and Charmy looked at Tails, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Tails glanced at Vector and Charmy, but his eyes soon fell upon Knuckles. "Knuckles!" he cried. The fox ran to his friend's side. Tails grasped Knuckles' hand. "Is he… is he…"

"He's still alive, but I'm not sure how long he's gonna stay that way."

"Yeah," Charmy said, pointing to the remains of the robot, "that robot over there poisoned him!"

Espio held up his hand in a feeble attempt to get attention. "It was more of a venom actually. The robot had envenomed blades on its arms."

Tails didn't seem to be listening. Instead, he gazed at the pile of debris in the corner, and scowled. He left Knuckles' side, and walked over to the pile. After a quick rummage, the fox picked up the robot's chest plate, and stared at it. "E-112," he whispered. "That would be… Nu." Espio, Vector, and Charmy stared blankly at Tails. "These robots have been causing us trouble for a long time. One of them nearly killed Knuckles. Now it looks like this one may go all the way." The silence was deafening. "Do you have any idea what sort of venom it was?"

Espio shook his head, though he was pleasantly surprised that someone had paid attention to his correction. "I was never taught about this sort of stuff. It's a cowardly way to kill your foe. And since I don't know what caused it, I don't have a clue how to heal it. Frankly, I was hoping you might know something."

Tails shook his head. "I'm just a mechanic. I can fix any machine, and build a fair few from scratch." Tails stared at the floor. "Right now, I'd trade all that for a knowledge of venoms, but I can't."

Espio lowered his head. "Then I guess we'll have to live with this for the rest of our lives." He grasped the handle of his katana. Seppuku was the only suitable punishment for such dishonour.

"Actually," Vector said, "we might not." Espio lowered his hand, and raised his head.

Tails looked up. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Vector leant his chair back until his head rested against the wall. "Well, if Eggman gave the robot that poison – I mean venom – then he must have something that can heal it."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "You mean an antivenin? Why would Eggman need one of those?" He scowled. "He's a bad guy. He doesn't care if innocent people get hurt."

Vector closed his eyes and raised his index finger. "He would have one because he wouldn't want that venom to get used against him, or that black hedgehog that always seems to do his dirty work. He rules the world, so he would want to play it safe."

Tails shrugged. "Maybe, but I'll tell you one thing: that antivenin's not on that robot. Believe me, it was the first thing I looked for. The only liquid apart from oil is on those daggers."

Vector slammed his fist against the wall. "Blast!" He sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, it was worth a shot."

Espio almost agreed. "If the robot doesn't have it," he said, "then that just means there'll be some in every base in the area."

"Yeah," Tails said, "but there's no way any of us can break into one of Eggman's bases. Knuckles tried it once, and he almost got killed."

"I can, and I will." Charmy and Tails both stared at him. Vector fell out of his seat. "I have to."

Vector rose to his feet, and brushed the dust off his arms. He pointed at Espio. "You're crazy," Vector said. "The kid's right, you'll never get in and out alive, let alone get out with that anti-whatever."

Espio folded his arms across his chest, and stared Vector down. "You're not going to stop me Vector. My honour says that I've got to do this. I got Knuckles into this, so I'm going to do all I can to get him out." Espio shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it's about time I put all that ninjitsu to good use."

Charmy leapt into the air, and hovered there. "Well, you can't go alone!" he shouted. "I'm coming too!" Espio grinned. He doubted that Charmy would be much help, but any help would be better than none at all.

Vector shrugged. "Well, I know when I'm beat," he said. "If both you guys get killed, then I'm as good as dead anyway. Might as well go down with style."

Tails waved his arms to get everyone's attention. "Um, guys?" he said. "Do you actually have a plan?"

Vector shook his head. "Not really, we just tend to figure it out as we go. It works surprisingly well." Espio and Charmy nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think I can coordinate a full attack from here. It will boost our chances a lot."

Vector shrugged. "Whatever. The important thing is that all of Team Chaotix is in this together." Vector held out his hand.

"Yeah!" Charmy shouted. He flew to Vector, and put his hand on top.

Espio rolled his eyes. Vector and Charmy were the cheesiest duo he'd ever met, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Espio put his hand on top of both of theirs and whispered, "To the bitter end."

Charmy looked up at Espio. "That's not gonna be anytime soon, right?"

Espio and Vector looked at each other. "Only one way to find out, Charmy," the crocodile said. "Only one way to find out."

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Next chapter: With Knuckles' life hanging in the balance, it's a race against time as the Chaotix break into Eggman's base in an attempt to find the antivenin. It's tough as it is, but when Eggman unleashes his secret weapon, they'll all be tested to their limits… and then some. It's a fight to the finish in Chapter 9: The Final Lesson.

A/N: Just for the record, Microsoft Word's spellcheck implies that katana is both the singular and the plural. If I'm wrong on that (I'm intending to check before I post this up, but I might forget), then my sincere apologies.


End file.
